With Me
by chubbynlite
Summary: Jazmine is the new girl in school and quickly finds herself stuck in the middle of a love triangle between two best friends. With all the drama, lies and secrets, who will she choose? HxJxH -ON LONG TERM HIATUS: CURRENTLY REWRITING-
1. Chapter 1

**A.N. 4/14/17- I'm currently editing all the chapters and getting a feel for the whole story again and _then_ I'll be on my way to finishing the story up. No serious changes to the story for those who have already read them, just fixing up some grammar and sentence structure. For those of you who are reading this for the first time, enjoy! :)**

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I sighed as I glanced down at my schedule. My classes were everywhere; I was upstairs, downstairs, outside in the other building and then back upstairs. All of my classes were practically on different sides of the school. Long at last though, I was in my last class of the day. I had been looking forward to it all day long, Honors Black History. I was so excited about taking this class because Woodcrest, my old school, didn't offer an black oriented classes in the curriculum. When I had found out that Lane Tech had offered it, I nearly screamed.

Sure, I was in Chicago instead of Maryland. I hated the idea of moving the moment my parents sat me down to talk about it. Why in the world would my parents move me out of state my senior year, in the middle of the school year? I had left behind my childhood home, my friends, memories, everything. I know it wasn't that big of a deal, but I didn't even know they were thinking about moving. They just called me down into the living room and said "Jazmine, we're moving to Chicago in three weeks." The only good thing that came out of this situation was that the new marking period just started. I wouldn't have to be playing catch up all semester long with my grades. I brushed my thoughts to the side as I recognized the room number of where I was supposed to be and went in to find the teacher. Her name was Ms. Smith, according to my schedule. She was a short, black woman with a TWA. "Uhm, hi Ms. Smith?" I said trying to get her attention away from the computer. She turned around to look at me and a smile bloomed on her face. "Jazmine DuBois?" She said a little more excitedly than I had expected. I nodded my head slowly. "Welcome baby girl! And let me just say, I love your hair."

I smiled, "Thank you. Where can I sit?" Ms. Smith glanced around as more students began to file into the classroom. "Just wait for everyone to file in and once the bell rings, sit wherever you want. I don't think I need to assign you a seat, do I?" I shook my head no and she nodded before heading out to stand in the hallway. I stood off to the side of the classroom, watching a bunch of kids file into the classroom. I was watching who went where and how they acted as they walked in, I didn't want to be stuck with someone who annoyed me the whole class period. The final bell rang and the last of the students came into class, everyone talking up a storm for the exception of a few kids. I searched the rows again, searching for a good seat and chose one that was in the middle but next to the window. I made my way to the desk and set my stuff on the side. I turned to greet my neighbor with a smile, "Hey, I'm Jazmine." He glanced at me slowly as he nodded. "Huey."

Instantly, my mood deflated. What in the hell? I kept looking at him, thinking that maybe he'd say something a little more than just his name. While I was staring though, I got a really good glance at him. He was… he was hot. I blushed and turned forward, not caring about his rudeness anymore. Even though I wasn't facing him, I couldn't help but glance over at him every now and then. He was scribbling in his notebook with a bored look on his face. I couldn't help but feel _a little_ offended. Everyone else I had sat next to and met today was for the most part, really nice to me. I sighed and dismissed Huey all together. Ms. Smith had finally came into the classroom and she greeted the class. "And class, we have a new student today! Stand up babydoll and introduced yourself."

I made a face as I pushed my chair back and stood up. I waved at the class, "Hi. I'm Jazmine DuBois, I'm from Maryland." And with that I sat back down. I heard some guy say "damn" behind my back when I had stood up. I rolled my eyes and took out a clean notebook. Ms. Smith pulled up a powerpoint about the beginning of the Civil Rights Movement and I leaned forward in my chair, absorbing every word she said. I could tell this was going to be my favorite class.

Huey had only talked to me when Ms. Smith had asked him to explain something to me or when I asked him a question. He was still completely indifferent about it, sounding as stoic as ever. After the third time I kind of just ignored it. Maybe it was just him or maybe he was in a shitty mood today. I guess I'd find out in the coming days which one it was. Other than that, class had gone okay. I talked to the girls in front of me a few times since they seemed nice enough. Even though I had liked the class, by the time the class had five minutes left, I was ready to be out the door. Ms. Smith had let us pack up, so I put all my stuff into my bag before popping in my headphones. I stared outside the window, noticing that the sky had turned a dark gray and instead of the light rain it was this morning, it was a slush mixture that was pouring down. I groaned, standing up as the bell rang and slinging my backpack on.

I wasn't in a rush to get out of the school, considering the horrible, cold weather and all. It had obviously gotten a lot colder, and the little hoodie I was wearing wasn't going to do much work in keeping me warm. I debated calling my parents but finally decided against it. They were both at work and it was their first day, I couldn't ask them to come out just to pick me up. Besides, they both worked at least forty-five minutes away. And that was only if the traffic and weather was decent by them. I groaned again. I had no choice but to walk home in the cold, slushy weather and get drenched.

"Gotta walk home, huh?" A voice said from behind me, making me jump a little.

I turned around to look at whoever just scared the bejesus out of me. "Oh, uh, yeah… I didn't know the weather would be like this." I shrugged, pointing to my hoodie. I glanced up at the boy who was talking to me. He smiled at me and ran his fingers through his jet black hair. "Nah, Chicago has some pretty confusing weather. I could give you a ride if you want?"

I hesitated for a moment. A guy I didn't know at all was offering to give me a ride? I was pretty trusting, but I wasn't stupid. I started to shake my head, trying to decline politely, "Oh no, you don't have to d-" I started, only to have him cut me off. "No problem, c'mon let's go. My friends are probably waiting at my car mad as hell by now." He chuckled as he started walking towards the parking lot. I followed after him as fast as I could have without losing my footing in the sleet. "So, are you new? You've popped up in a few conversations today."

I blushed. Was he being serious? "Yeah, I'm from Maryland. And seriously? That's crazy. It's only been a day."

I had finally caught up to him and we were walking side by side now. "Ha I know. Everybody talks at this school. And don't worry, all I heard was what the guys were saying, and none of it was bad." He paused. "Oh, I'm Hiro, by the way."

"Nice to meet you, I'm Jazmine." The rain/sleet mixture picked up and the both of picked up the pace towards Hiro's car. Hiro groaned, "Damn, I knew I shoulda got a spot closer to the school." A minute or two later, I saw what had to be Hiro's car. It was practically the only car in the row and two guys were standing outside of it. As soon as we were close enough, one of them yelled. "Well got damn Hiro, could you walk any slower?!"

"Can it Michael. I was talking to Jazmine, said I'd drop her off." Hiro laughed as he unlocked the door to his little Honda Civic. Everyone climbed into the car at the same time, eager to get out of the cold. Hiro started the engine and turned the heat on as high as it could go. I set my bag in between my legs and put on my seatbelt. It wasn't until I was all situated that I noticed Huey was in the car next to me. I froze up for a minute, wondering if I should say hi but decided against it considering it was barely returned the first time.

"Damn it's brick." Michael mumbled as he breathed into his hands. He tugged his hat over his ears more, covering his dreads. "So, what street do you live on Jazmine?" I had to think for a moment. I had just moved in a couple of days ago and I kept thinking of my old address. "Uhhhh, Pleasant Ave?"

"Oh okay. That's the same street as Huey." _Great,_ I thought to myself. I nodded my head and looked out the window as Hiro started to back out of the spot. I loved the rain, whether it was cold or hot, or just a mess like it was today. I droned out the voices of the boys, mostly Hiro and Michael since Huey wasn't talking much. Why was I not surprised? I had came to the conclusion that he didn't talk much. It was slightly relieving. If he wasn't talking to his friends, why would he talk to me? Before I knew it, Hiro stopped the car and Huey started to get out. I followed suit, gathering my bag. "Thanks Hiro, I owe you."

"Nah, it's not a problem. Want me to pick you up in the morning? It's not a hassle since I gotta get Huey anyways. Wouldn't wanna let a pretty girl like you walk in below freezing weather." I blushed and thought it over quickly. He seemed innocent enough. I nodded. "Sure, see you in the morning. What time should I be out here?"

Hiro shrugged his shoulders. "I'll honk for you."

"Alright, see you! Thanks again." I closed the door and turned around. I glanced around for Huey, catching him walking into his house. I sighed and shook my head. I needed to stop worrying over some boy who wouldn't even bother talking to me. Hiro pulled away and he honked as he sped past me. I waved and offered a smile as I crossed the street to head home. I had a crap load of homework to do, and I wanted to finish it and get a nap in before my parents got home.


	2. Chapter 2

I let out a breath of air as soon as I stepped into my house. It was nice to get out of the cold weather and into my warm, warm house. I locked the door behind me and went straight to my room down the hall. My new house was a lot smaller than my one back in Woodcrest. This one was one floor, my room being on one side of the house and my parents on the other side with the living room and kitchen dead smack in the middle. I had a bathroom next to my room and my parents had one in their bedroom.

I stepped into my room and threw my backpack down onto the floor. The first thing I did when I got home was get out of the clothes I had been in all day. I slipped off my jeans and shirt and tossed them into my hamper and put on a sweater and some yoga pants. I fell back on my bed and stretched out as I plugged my phone into the charger. It was so quiet in the house and none of my friends were texting me back, so I was practically alone. Which in all honesty, sucked. I pouted and decided to text my online friend that I met almost two years ago. She lived in the same town as me, so I was hoping that I would get to meet her sooner or later. It'd be nice to have a girl's night out again sometime soon.

Cindy was a really chill person, a tall white girl who had the attitude of a lifetime. Me and her were so different, yet we were still best friends. I met her through Instagram when someone had posted her as their woman crush wednesday. I ended up following her and surprisingly enough, she followed me back. Considering she had almost over six thousand followers, I don't know why she followed me back. Cindy commented on my pictures, I commented on hers and one day she asked me how I did my makeup and that was how we became best friends. She knew me better than anyone back at home knew me.

She texted me back almost immediately. _Hey Jaz wassup? Are you outta school yet?_

I turned on Pandora before texting her back and Lil Kim's Crush on You came on. I started moving my hips in beat with the song and opened my messages back up. _Yup, can we chill?_

 _Bitchhhh, I thought you would neva ask! Where you stay at?_

I quickly typed in my address and she told me she was only a ten minute car ride away. I told her that I'd be here waiting and smiled to myself. I was finally going to meet my best friend! I turned up my music and plugged the aux cord into my radio, loud enough that I could hear it walking out into the living room. Lil Kim's song came off and Foxy Brown's Get Me Home came on next. I danced my way into the kitchen to make myself something to eat. I searched through the fridge for something that would satisfy me. It was hard to find food to eat as a vegetarian sometimes. It was particularly hard because I've only been a vegetarian for a few months and sometimes I just wanted some fried chicken and pulled pork and bacon. I sighed at not being able to eat meat and instead just got out fruit to make myself a strawberry and banana smoothie.

While my smoothie was blending I took my hair out of its ponytail and shook my hair out. You didn't appreciate having your hair out until it was up in a tight ponytail all day. Another old school song came on but it wasn't one that I liked that much, so I stopped dancing and poured my smoothie into a cup to drink it. I plopped down on the couch and waited for Cindy to get here. By the time I wash finished drinking my smoothie and cleaning out my glass, the doorbell rang. I had to admit I was a little nervous. This was the first time I would be meeting her and what if it turned out that we didn't click like we did over the phone? I went over to the door and opened it with a big smile on my face.

"Jazzy Fresh! Wassup girl?!" Cindy yelled and she threw her arms around me and pulled me into a hug. I hugged her back tightly and started laughing. "It only took two damn years to meet my best friend!" She pulled away from me and I stepped back to let her in the house. It finally came to me that I should've at least texted my parents that I had a friend over but I quickly dismissed it, they wouldn't be home for a few more hours anyway.

"Hey Cindy. I was so nervous about meeting you." I laughed at myself and started walking to my room. She followed after me. "Nah, for what?! We know each other like the back of our hands! Ain't no reason to be nervous! I had no idea you lived this close though. My friend stay right across the street."

"Really? Is it Huey?" I asked her, a little more excited than I should've been. Cindy wiggled her eyebrows and sat down on the edge of my bed. She shook her head slowly. "Nope, Huey's little brother, Riley. Buuuuuut, you sounded a lil too eager to offer up Huey's name. You like him or somethin'?"

I turned off my music and shook my head. "No! He was with my in my last class and he was being really rude." Cindy shrugged her arms, "Pfffft, that's just his personality. I wouldn't let it bother you." I felt a little bit of relief at that and smiled. "Oooookay, well. He is really cute. I mean, I sat down next to him and once I got a good looked at him I was just like, 'Damn'."

Cindy laughed, "I know. Him and Riley are hella good looking!"

"I really wish that you went to school with me. I didn't have anybody to eat lunch with today." I pouted. Cindy kicked off her shoes and laid back on my bed. I kind of expected her to just make herself at home without me having to say so. "Nah, don't worry about it, you'll make some friends. Pretty girl like you? I bet you'll be eating with someone tomorrow. Besides, you go to the smart people school. I'ma stick with my school and keep on trying for a basketball scholarship.

"Speaking of basketball, you don't have practice today?" I asked her. She shook her head. "Coach cancelled, family emergency, but it desn't matter, I'll be carrying the team to the championships this year." Cindy smirked. She really did love basketball. Last year, the other team had won by a three pointer at the last minute, which pissed Cindy off for weeks. "Anyways, wanna go meet the boys? Well… Riley at least." She smirked at me and I slapped her arm playfully.

"Cut it out. I can't help it that he's cute." I blushed. Then a thought came to me. "Wait wait wait, isn't Riley the guy that yo-" Cindy smacked her hand over my mouth. "Shush! That's between you and me." A blush had dusted her cheeks and I laughed at how adorable she looked. I shook my head at her and stood up. "Come one, let's go and 'meet the boys'." I said with an eyeroll. I grabbed my TImberlands from the closet and put them on. I grabbed my phone and my jacket and switched off the lights to my room before going to meet Cindy out in the living room. We both put our jackets on and I locked up the house before we crossed the street to Huey's and Riley's house. My heart was beating a mile a minute. What if Huey thought I was some stalker chick?

Cindy knocked on the door a few times and elbowed me lightly. "Calm yourself down."

"I ca-" I started but I shut my mouth as soon as the door unlocked and hid behind Cindy. It kind of worked out because she was a bit more taller than me and had broader shoulders. The door opened. "Hey Huey!" Cindy said.

"What're you doing here McPhearson?" He asked. Cindy stepped over to the side and pointed to me. I sighed and slowly stood up straight and waved at Huey. "I thought Jazmine should meet you and Riley, considering y'all are ya know, neighbors." Huey sighed heavily and stepped back to let us in. I had a slight feeling he didn't want us in his home. I looked around the house and the layout was pretty much identical to mine. I started to unzip my jacket and turned to look back at him. "Hey… Huey, where can I put this?" He looked at me for a minute before grabbing my jacket and hanging it up inside a closet. He walked past me without saying or giving me a second glance. Cindy looked at me and back at him. "Freeman, what's your problem?"

Oh no. Cindy was going to stand up for me and something told me by the look on Huey's face that he was ready to go neck and neck with her. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"You! You dismissing Jazmine like that for no damn reason. It's rude as hell." Cindy shouted. Huey arched his eyebrows and clenched his jaw. "She's not my friend, and quite frankly, neither are you. So you can leave me alone with that mess." Huey sat down on the couch and unmuted what I figured was the news channel. He grabbed his pick and started to pick out his afro. Cindy muttered something under her breath and grabbed my arm. She pulled me in her direction, I'm guessing to meet Riley. She busted into the room, "Wassup Reezy?!" She shouted. He was on the floor doing push ups and he finished his rep before he stood up. "What's good C-Murph? Who's she?" He asked, pointing a finger in my direction.

Cindy plopped down on one of the end of the bed, "This is Jazmine, my friend from Maryland? I know I've talked to you about her before." Riley thought for a minute before nodding. "I heard about you in school. Gotta say… you do look pretty good." Cindy slapped Riley on the back of his arm and he started laughing. "Aight aight Cindy, damn! Always hitting a nigga for no reason!"

"That's my best friend idiot!" She shouted. Of course, I knew the real reason why she hit him, but I wasn't going to just say it out loud in front of Riley. I laughed and waved at him. "Hey Riley."

"Wassup… Jazmine?" I deadpanned. Cindy literally just said my name a minute ago and he already forgot? "See, Jazmine is a okay name and all, but I'm make up a nickname for you."

Cindy sucked her teeth at him and rolled her eyes, "Ignore him, he's an idiot." Riley called her a bitch under his breath and Cindy flipped him off. They really did have a weird relationship going on. "Anyways, Reezy we're bored. Let's find something to do?"

"The fuck, it's brick outside and you tryna make plans? Try again in a few months."

"Nah, let's do something inside!" She pouted. "I want Jazmine to get used to you and Huey cause she's gonna be around as long as I am. Look, let's convince Huey to let you play the game. What if I re-braid your hair? It's lookin' a lil fuzzy."

"Shut up." Riley mumbled. "But whateva, let's go. But if that nigga got anything to say and we end up fighting again it's gon be on you two." As soon as Riley said that, Huey showed up at the door and looked down at Cindy. "Can you be any louder?"

Cindy smiled at him. "Of course I can!" She rolled her eyes and her and Riley went out into the living room while I kind of lingered at the door way next to Huey. He turned and went into another room and I followed him. He sat down on his bed and looked at me. "Can I help you?"

I blushed and looked at the wall above his head. "Uh… do you not like me or something?"

"Do I have a reason not to like you?" He asked me, arching an eyebrow.

"Well, no not really bu-" He cut me off, "Well there's your answer." I felt a heat of anger roll over my body. What was with this dude and why the hell was he so difficult? "Yeah, but you're giving off this vibe and I'm just trying to make friends. Hiro was nice enough to talk to me."

"I'm not Hiro, and that 'vibe' is my personality. If you don't like it then that's not my problem."

I crossed my arms and looked at him, "Oh really?"

"Really." He paused. "Is that it?" I clenched my jaw and shook my head, deciding to be petty. I took a seat right on the edge of his bed and stared at him. Usually I would've took offense and just dropped the situation, but I felt like he was challenging me. The way his dark brown eyes looked into mine made my stomach do little flips. They were so damn intense. I knew I was blushing, but if I turned back at this point I'd look like a wuss. "You're dismissing me without even talking to me." I said to him. I knew he was dismissing me because plenty of people had done it before. I've been told I had resting bitch face, but from the looks of it, he had it too. Not only that, but when I was smiling and talking, people thought that it was fake and all an act so they just avoided me altogether. It usually took a few conversations to convince someone I wasn't a fake, backstabbing bitch. Huey let out a sigh and crossed his arms. "Okay. I won't dismiss you anymore."

"Okay?" I looked at him. "That's it? I was kinda expecting a little more resistance."

"Yeah well, you're annoyingly persistent." He smirked at me. I let out a dorky laugh and shook my head. "I am not annoying."

"Yes you are." Huey picked up his book and started reading it. I was about to say something when Cindy called me out to the living room. I sighed, wanting to stay in the room with Huey but knowing Cindy would say that we were flirting. I stood up and left his room, smiling when he said "Bye Jazmine."

Maybe we would be friends after all.


	3. Chapter 3

_You got a lot of things to say, you got a lot of things on your plate, you got a lot on me, know a lot of things that I just can not say is quite on my wave, you bitches riding on all my waves…_ I groaned as the song droned on. Was it really time to get up for school already? I grabbed my phone from off my nightstand and dismissed the alarm. I stretched as I sat up in bed and wrapped the covers around my body and just sat there for a minute. I _really_ wasn't a morning person. If I could sleep in everyday, I definitely would. I blew raspberries with my mouth, dropped my covers and shuffled into the bathroom to get ready for the day.

By the time thirty minutes had passed, I had showered, brushed my teeth and gotten dressed. Now I was in the mirror untwisting my bantu knots. It was a lot of working being natural sometimes. The days I struggled with my hair made me want to turn to the creamy crack and call it a day. While I got my hair ready for school, I let my mind drift back to yesterday. Cindy had brought me over to meet Huey and Riley. Me and Huey only talked for a few minutes, if you could call him insulting me a conversation. Despite the fact that he had called me persistently annoying, his tone of voice in those few minutes had changed from grumpy to… less grumpy. The rest of the time me and Cindy spent with Riley in the living room.

He was a really cool guy, despite his terrible potty mouth and the fact that he said really dumb stuff sometimes. We mostly listened to music on music choice the whole time while Cindy did his hair. After that they ordered some food from Dominoes. I would've ate it if it hadn't been loaded with sausage and ham. After that we were just dancing, goofing around. It was crazy how comfortable I felt with Cindy and Riley, it felt like I had known them forever. I wasn't super shy but it took me some time to open up to people. But there I was, dancing my ass off and laughing after knowing them for less than an hour. The fun had went on until their granddad came home and told us, his words exactly, 'turn that bullshit you call music off.' After that me and Cindy stayed for another hour or so until her ride came to pick her up.

I was finally done unknotting my hair, but picked it out a bit to get some more volume. The bigger the hair, the better. I grabbed my perfume and sprayed it into the air before walking into it. I went back into my room to look back at my outfit in my long mirror, hoping I looked good. Not that I had any reason to want to look good other than for myself. I had went pretty simple today, some nice blue skinny jeans, heeled brown ankle boots and a salmon colored sweater that was a little baggy on me. I fluffed my hair one more time in the mirror and turned around to check how everything looked from the back. I put in my big hoop earring and grabbed my bag from the side of my bed along with my phone and earphones. It was only 7:10 so I'd have some time to eat breakfast and talk to my parents. They've been so lately, but the mornings were our 'family time'. I set my stuff down by the door and went into the kitchen. "Morning Daddy, Morning Mom."

They both greeted me with a "Goodmorning sweetie." I went to kiss my dad on the cheek and did the same to my mom, who was pouring herself a cup of coffee. "You look nice today Jazmine, any special reason why?" My mom asked me. I smiled to myself and shook my head no as I searched the fridge for something to eat.

"Sweetie, are you wearing lipstick?" My dad asked me as he wiped his cheek and looked at his hand. I grabbed the orange juice out the fridge and two eggs to scramble really quick. I grabbed the pan out from the counter and warmed it up. "I wear lipstick everyday Daddy." I threw the butter in the pan and let it coat before I put the eggs in. I added some salt and pepper and tossed them around a little.

"Do you really?" My dad asked, a little more than lost. I rolled my eyes good naturedly and nodded. I had been wearing making almost everyday since freshman year. I was surprised he was so late noticing. My mom laughed. "Goodness Tom, you're getting old aren't you?"

"It's just my little girl is growing up so fast." He cried dramatically.

"I've been eighteen for three months Dad."

"I know!" He mumbled. We all laughed together and I felt my heart swell. I put my eggs on a plate and placed the hot pan in the sink. I poured myself a glass of orange juice and sat down at the table with my parents. They were finishing up their drinks just as I started eating my food. My dad stood up, brought his mug of coffee to the sink where he washed up his dish and mine. He kissed my temple and then went over to kiss my mom goodbye on the lips. "Alright, I'll see you two after work." Me and my mom said bye to my dad at the same time. I was already halfway done with my food by the time my mom got up to leave. "Lock up sweetie and don't leave the house without cleaning your plate." She kissed me goodbye and left too.

The house was eerily quiet in the silence of the morning so I finished scarfing down my food and gulped down my OJ. I hadn't heard a car horn yet, so I washed my dishes and checked in the bathroom mirror again to make sure my lipstick hadn't smudged from me eating. I went to the coat closet by the door and shrugged on my purple winter jacket. I searched for my matching earmuffs, knowing my hair wouldn't be enough to protect me from the freezing weather. I searched all over the house for them before finding them in my room on my dresser. "Ugh, finally." I said to nobody but myself. I walked out the door, locking up like my mom asked me to and stood on the curb. Huey was standing across the street in a black North Face jacket and some Timberlands. His huge afro was blowing in the chilly wind and from the look on his face he looked cold as hell.

I smiled to myself and looked both ways before crossing the street. As I approached him I chuckled, "You should invest in some earmuffs, they're lifesavers." I pointed to my own earmuffs, keeping my ears toasty warm. He arched an eyebrow at me and smirked. He shrugged his shoulders. "Don't need em if I'm gonna be in the car."

"You're shivering."

"It's below freezing."

"Exactly the reason why you should have ear muffs! It won't mess up your fro, I promise." I stuck my tongue out at him. "I can always lend you a pair." Huey shook his head, "No thanks, I'll live without them." I crossed my arms as I stood next to him, looking down the street for Hiro's car to pull up. It really was cold, making me wish I had double layered and put some leggings on underneath my jeans. I shoved my gloved hands into my coat pockets and hopped around to keep some heat going through my body. Huey chuckled, "Not use to the weather yet, huh?"

I rolled my eyes. "Shut up." I was about to say more but I saw Hiro's car turn the corner, blasting music really loud, might I add. He stopped right in front of us and I was quick to get in the car.. Once Huey had shut the door after him, Hiro turned down the music enough that I could hear my thoughts and turned into a driveway to turn around. "Morning Sunshines!" He sung, turning the music down more. I smiled at him, "Morning Hiro." Of course Huey didn't bother saying anything, not that I was surprised. Michael was in the front seat, slumped. I looked at Hiro in the mirror. "Again, thanks for giving me a ride to school."

"No problem! Like I said, can't have a pretty girl like you walking in this weather." He paused and waved his McDonald's bag around. "Want some? I got two sausage, egg and cheese McMuffins." I wrinkled my nose and shook my head, shaking off his compliment. I didn't take it too seriously because he seemed like the type to throw compliments around. It did feel good to get called pretty though. "Thanks but no thanks, I'm a vegetarian."

"Really?" Hiro and Huey said at the same time. I nodded my head. "Newly vegetarian, though."

"Ha, my man Huey's been a hardcore vegetarian since he was what… nine?" Hiro laughed as he unwrapped his breakfast sandwich and took a bite. Huey had a look of disgust on his face. "You know, it's one thing to eat meat, but what you're eating right now isn't even real. That crap'll give you cancer in no time."

Hiro shrugged, "Everybody's a critic! And everything gives you cancer nowadays!"

"Yeah but I could look past the fact that you eat meat if you were eating locally grown food instead of the big brands that dominate the food industry who don't care about the animals, employees or the environment." Huey stated, sounding like he knew what he was saying by heart. Hiro waved his hand, "Yeah, yeah. I don't think there are any farmers here caring for chickens when it's twenty two degrees outside."

"Shut up, you know what I mean." Huey mumbled. I laughed, "Are you always like this Huey?"

Hiro answered for him, "He can be a very passionate man. He's been like this for as long as I've known him."

"Wow." I smiled at Huey. "You should lecture me on something one day." Hiro laughed, almost choking on his food and Huey just looked at me and nodded. I don't know what in the world was so funny when I was being dead serious. Huey seemed to know what he was talking about, and it was always nice to learn and discuss different topics with people who had different viewpoints on problems. "I'm being serious!"

"Pretty and willing to submit herself to Huey Freeman's lectures? What a catch." Hiro kept laughing. Huey rolled his eyes and looked out the window, but I saw the smile on his face. The rest of the car ride was pretty quiet, Hiro had turned the music back up. I had no idea who the person was that was rapping, but the album sounded amazing. I made a note to myself to ask Hiro who it was when he wasn't so involved in it.

Fifteen minutes later we were in the school parking lot. Michael had finally woken up and he was the first to get out the car. Apparently he had a girlfriend and they met in the cafeteria every morning. There was only fifteen minutes to kill until the school let everyone in the building and twenty five until we had to report to class. Huey had left soon after Michael did, saying he was going to sneak into the library to find some books to read. So that left me and Hiro, he smiled at me warm heartedly. "Why don't you come sit in the front now?" I got out the car and went over to the passenger's side. Hiro finished off his carton of orange juice and chucked it in the McDonald's bag. "You look nice today Jazmine."

I smiled, "Thanks, you look pretty nice too." I said jokingly, he was only wearing sweatpants and some sneakers. That wasn't saying he didn't pull them off nicely, but still. "Really, thanks so much for the rides. I have to do something to thank you. Bake you some cookies or something."

"You bake?" I nodded my head. "All the time, it one of my favorite things to do. I'm guessing you want some cookies, huh?" He nodded his head quickly and I laughed. "What type of cookies do you like?"

"Any type. I've got a fat boy inside me trying to escape, and he'll eat anything. Anything."

"Hmmmm, how does double chocolate chunk peanut butter sound? I just made the recipe and I need some guinea pigs to test it out." I laughed again as he nodded his head eagerly. "What's in it?"

"It's right there in the name! Chocolate and peanuts. Are you allergic to any of that?" Hiro shook his head and I nodded. I made a mental note to myself to remember his cookies. After that the two of us sat in the car in silence, with the music in the background. It wasn't awkward or anything, just really relaxed. That's something I really liked and appreciated about Hiro, he seemed to not make things awkward. He was the complete opposite of Huey. I said one thing to Huey and he said one thing and then we both sat there till I said something back. Nobody wanted to deal with that. Hiro was nice, funny and I liked being around him. I could tell we'd be good friends. "So… Jazmine, I'd hate to sound like any other guy but would you like to hang out after school?" he paused for a minute, a blush starting to form across his cheeks. "I mean actually hang out! Not no Netflix and Chill type stuff. I just… i just really wanna get to know you. You're pretty as hell and down to earth and I love that in a girl."

I blushed and tried to look anywhere but at Hiro. It wasn't that I minded being asked out, but it was just so sudden. Like I said yesterday, it's only been a day. Something told me by Hiro's blush he didn't mean 'get to know me more' as a friend but something more. Of course I trusted him when he said he wasn't going to try anything slick but I hardly knew him. But I was terrible at rejecting dates unless the person was an asshole or a creep. I had even said yes to girls asking me on dates, and I'm not even bisexual, let alone lesbian. I knew it took a lot of courage to ask someone out, so I could at least give everyone the benefit of the doubt. I smiled at him and nodded my head. "Sure. What are we gonna do? The weathers too cold to do anything outside."

"I know that, so we'll just be inside. It may be cold but I know a really good place with great food. There's a bunch of vegetarian dishes too." he smiled back at me and the happiness on his face made me happier. I glanced down at the clock and noticed we had a few more minutes until 8:30. Time had passed fast, I didn't even notice the first bell ring. "Alright… I'm okay with that. Is there any specific time after school? Do you want me to meet you there or…?"

"I'll pick you up around 6:30? I know we get out at 3:30 but I don't get home till it's almost four. I wanna get ready and all that. Well you know what, how about 5:30?"

I nodded in agreement. "Really it's whatever is good for you. It's not I have anything planned. So just come whenever, all right?" he nodded his head again. "Thanks Jazmine. Hope I didn't come off too weird or anything."

"Not at all, I think it went pretty smoothly if anything. It was cute that you kept blushing." I poked at him, knowing I was flirting with him but not caring. We were going on a date anyways, right? Well he didn't say it was a date, but it was a date. Hiro blushed even more and shook his head. "Can I get your number?"

I nodded and pulled my phone out my pocket and unlocked it while he handed me his. We exchanged numbers, and I put a purple heart by my name in his phone. When I got mine back his said "Hiro Otomo" with the Asian guy emoji. I laughed and shook my head at him. Just then the bell rang and Hiro turned off his car. "Well, I'll see you later?" I nodded my head, saying the same thing to him and grabbed my bag as I got out. I closed his door and started to walk, taking my time so I didn't lose my footing on the ground. Me and Hiro parted ways at his car so I was on my own walking to my class. I sighed happily and popped my earphones in my ear to get in a few minutes of music before I had to start doing math.

I could feel the big smile forming on my face. It was a relief to know I would make friends and that I wouldn't be alone for the rest of my senior year. Plus being complimented and asked out on a date always made me a little more happy.


	4. Chapter 4

I got into my class just as the bell rang, grateful I wasn't late. I had to stop by my locker to take off my jacket since I didn't feel like carrying it around all day. The teacher wasn't in the class physically but she was standing outside the classroom talking to one of the other teachers. I grabbed my calculator and made a beeline to my seat. I sat in between this one kid named Justin and another girl named Kayla. The whole class was talking as the announcements droned on talking about what clubs were meeting and not to park across the street unless you wanted to be towed. I yawned, already ready to go back to sleep. I hated math so much that as soon as I stepped into a math classroom I was tired.

Kayla tapped my desk and I looked at her, "You look cute! Where'd you get those boot from?"

"Thanks, I really didn't wanna wear them cause all that damn snow and ice but I just had to. I got them from Macy's. It was buy one get one half off and I couldn't resist."

We laughed together and she nodded her head. "Who are you telling!? I love shopping cheap."

"Speaking of clothes, you look really cute too," I added. She had looked really nice yesterday too, so I figured she had some really good fashion sense. Not only that, but I had to love anyone who was as cheap as me but loved shopping. "We should go shopping together one day."

Kayla nodded me and grabbed her phone out her bag, "Hell yeah, what's your number?" I gave her my number and she called me so I could save hers to mine. I was about to say something else when the pledge of allegiance started and the whole classroom stood up. By the time it was over, our teacher had came in and had our warm up on the board. I groaned silently, only loud enough for the people around me to hear it. I hated math.

We didn't get another chance to talk until Mrs. Gold's lesson was over. My brain was pretty much fried, I didn't understand anything about functions inside of functions, I barely knew anything about regular functions! That was partly my fault though, I hadn't had a math class since sophomore year. Kayla turned to me, "So when are you free?"

"You work fast, huh?" I joked. "Well… I can't today cause I already have plans, but literally any other time is cool."

"Alright. How about on Friday? It's supposed to be a lot nicer that day anyways, maybe we can flex at the mall together. I'll just text you to find out where you live and everything, cool?" I nodded my head as I started packing my stuff up. I smiled, another potential friend and it's only my second day. The bell rang and I stood up and grabbed my stuff and filed out the classroom like everyone else. One thing I didn't like about this school was how small and overcrowded it was. The hallways were always like bumper to bumper traffic and practically all the classrooms were too big for one teacher to handle. I shuffled along with everyone else, looking for a way to get around some of the people blocking the hall and walking slowly. Someone tapped me on the shoulder and when I looked back I saw Hiro. I smiled wide, "Hey Hiro, where're you going?"

"I'm actually in Ms. Gold's class right now, but I saw you come out of her class and I uh… can I walk you to class?" I blushed and smiled even more, but turned to face forward. I nodded my head slowly. "Sure, I'm all the way in the arts building though." Hiro shrugged and kept walking with me anyways.

"Eh, Gold likes me so I'm not too worried. Besides it's just math. I'd rather be with you." We made a left and went down the stairway side by side. I could feel the heat all over my face and I knew I was probably a bright red. I was used to compliments but the way Hiro said them was just… amazing. I could tell he really meant them and he wasn't forcing them out. The just came out naturally. I bit my bottom lip. "So, what class do you have anyways?"

"Oh! Uh… I just have art. We apparently do a lot of painting." Hiro nodded and we finally made our way out the building. The one minute warning bell rang and I stopped and turned to Hiro. "Thanks for walking me, but I don't want you to be late."

"Aw c'mon, I didn't even get to walk you into the building." Hiro whined. I laughed and shook my head, really not wanting him to be late. I rolled my eyes at him and took a step closer to him, stepped up on my tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek. He blushed just as much as I did and smiled like a dork. "Go before you're super late!" I said.

"Will you text me?" He asked me. I told him I would whenever I got the chance and he turned around and left to go back to class. The late bell rang and I sped walk into my classroom to get ready for whatever my art teacher had planned for us today. A few minutes later I got a text from Hiro. _I wasn't expecting that._

I smirked to myself and bit my bottom lip. _I'm full of surprises Hiro._ I was being a flirt but I really couldn't help it. It was something about Hiro that was just so welcoming. It felt great, honestly. Of course I wasn't going to flirt too much. I didn't want him getting the wrong idea especially so early on. I didn't have any problem with girls who moved fast paced in relationships, but I usually took my time unless I knew I didn't want something serious. Not that I wanted something serious with Hiro but I wasn't going to play him or anything like that. Even though Hiro asked me to text him, he didn't respond back. I knew it was because if Ms. Gold saw your phone she would take it away, no warnings. He had either already gotten caught or he was playing it safe. I rolled my eyes, Hiro seemed like the type to get caught with his cellphone often.

"Hey wassup ma," a deep voice said to my right. I turned slightly to face him. Everyone was socializing since the teacher had already explained the project. Why did he have to come socialize with me of all people? And did he really just call me ma? I faked a smile. "Hi."

"You the new girl right?" he smirked at me and sat down on the empty stool next to me. I nodded my head, wondering where he was going to go with this conversation. "Aight, thats cool, thats cool. I heard about you the other day, but I didn't come to class yesterday. I didn't get a chance to see you for myself. You really are lookin' right." he said as he leaned back to look at my ass.

I smiled awkwardly, trying as hard as I could not to make a face at him. He was trying to hit on me, but it wasn't really working. Not only that but he was looking at my ass non discreetly. "Yeah well… Here I am. I need to go get my supplies now." I said standing up and heading over to where the paint and paintbrushes were. I didn't even really need the paint yet since I hadn't even drawn the picture yet. I was just hoping he would get the idea and leave by the time I got back but nope, there he was, just sitting there. It'd be different if he was trying to just talk, but he was doing a poor job trying to be smooth and hit on me. I sat back down on my chair and sighed. "Look, I'm cool with talking to you, but I'm not tryna sit here and listen to you spit game. Okay?"

Some people who heard me busted out laughing. The guy, whose name I didn't even know, turned red and clenched his teeth. I could tell he was trying to keep his cool but it was obviously failing. He stood up and looked at me, "Ain't nobody tryna spit game at your ugly ass, bitch."

"Oh?" I said, getting a little louder than before. "I'm an ugly ass bitch, huh? But… But wasn't you the one all up on me, calling me pretty? Peeking at my ass?" I smiled as he turned even more red than before. "Mad because you spit weak game and won't be able to hit now?" The whole class busted out in laughter and the teacher finally stepped in. He told the class to quiet down, which took a few minutes then told the boy, Marcus, to go back to his seat and not to come near me again. Now that everything had died down, I could finally focus on getting my drawing down on paper. I spent the whole block taking my sweet time, trying to get it perfect so I could paint it tomorrow. I was so glad when the bell dismissing us for lunch rang. I had only had two classes so far, but each one was ninety minutes. I made my way to the library again, not really having any friends to go find in the cafeteria. I could've texted Kayla or even Hiro, but I decided against it. I had lunch A, but depending on their schedule they could have lunch B or C.

The librarian greeted me, an older white man who seemed sweet. He had taken my picture for my ID card yesterday. I waved at him and looked around to see where I should sit and spotted a familiar fro in my field of vision. I smiled and made my way towards him. His back was facing me but I rounded the corner of the table and sat in front of him. "Hi Huey."

He looked up at me and popped out one of his earphones. "Hey Jazmine."

"Whatcha up to?" I smiled. His phone was in his hand and it looked like he was reading an article. "I'm just reading up on some things."

I rolled my eyes, "...like?"

He chuckled, "I don't want to bore you to death."

"I'll have you know I'm very into the news. Why don't you tell me so we can talk about it? We have thirty minutes till lunch is over anyways."

He sighed and shrugged his shoulders. "I'm reading about the privileges of lighter skinned black people as opposed to darker skinned."

I nodded my head slowly. I had my own opinions about this, just like I'm pretty sure Huey had his own. I thought that lighter skinned blacks did have more privileges than darker skinned blacks in America, but it was a topic largely ignored in the black community. "Lighter people of color have more privileges. It's just one of the consequences in being in such a whitewashed country, world." Huey looked at me like he wasn't expecting me to say what I did. I laughed, "Did you think I was some idiot? Anyways, those privileges have really divided our community, you know? As someone who actually has a lot of these privileges, it's really sad. I maybe be perceived in a better light than someone darker than me. That's part of the reason why there's a division amongst blacks, but no matter how much white I have in me, I'm still black to white people. Not that I'm ashamed of it or anything. But everything about me is tolerated more because I'm so light."

"That's true. I completely agree. I think it stands for those mixed with black or those fully black. I'm one hundred percent black, and I'm still lighter than most. Not as light as your yellow ass, but still. Our community is so divided but we need to stand with each other and stop discriminating against each other so we can fight together." Huey smiled at me. A full, blown smile and it made my heart soar. It was such a cute, lopsided smile that I had broke out into a smile myself. After we finished talking about race, we started talking about politics, education, and college tuition. Before I knew it, the bell rang, dismissing us from our lunch. I stood up smiled, "That was a nice conversation Huey."

Huey nodded his head, "It was. We should have another one tomorrow."

"Of course." We walked out of the library, Huey going to the right and me going to the left. I had to make it upstairs and across the school to my english class before the bell rang. English was my favorite class, I loved reading and writing and it had made me happy for as long as I could remember.

As much as I loved English class, I wanted to get to my last class so the school day could be over with. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't at least a little excited about the date with Hiro today. Of course, Huey seemed to be opening up to me, so I couldn't wait to see him and talk to him. It'd be restricted because we were in class, but we could have a little conversation here and there. Except when I got to Ms. Smith's class he wasn't in his seat. I didn't think too much of it because there was still three or so minutes of passing time but when the final bell rang I sighed. He was here earlier. Maybe he went home early or maybe he was just skipping. I shrugged it off and went through my notes just like I did the other day. We had a mini project and I had to pair up with another table since Huey had ditched me. I would've been a bit more bummed out that he wasn't here if I hadn't liked the class so much.

The ninety minutes breezed by fast though, and before I knew it, I was making my way to my locker for my jacket. After that I stopped by the bathroom to check my hair and makeup and then started on my way to Hiro's car. He had texted me once or twice since art class but I hadn't bothered to respond. I wasn't the person who always had to have their phone in their hand. If I was enjoying myself why would I pull my phone out? I told him I was heading to his car. As I was walking I was forever grateful that the sun had melted the ice from this morning. The last thing I wanted to do was bust my ass in front of the whole school. When I got to Hiro's car, I spotted Huey, bobbing his head slightly with a smirk on his face. "Huey! You left me all alone in Ms. Smith's class!"

"My bad Jazmine…" he mumbled. I took a step closer to him and squinted at him. "Are you… Are you high?" I looked at Michael and pointed at Huey. "Does he always smoke?"

Michael sighed and nodded his head slowly. I wasn't against smoking, but I thought it was stupid to skip class just to get high. He only had to wait an hour and a half till he could smoke. I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms, glad when I could see Hiro heading our way. Huey started giggling to himself as he looked at his warped reflection on the car. "That's a damn shame Huey. You couldn't wait ninety minutes to get high?" I mumbled as Hiro took one glance at Huey and sucked his teeth. He shot a knowing glance at Michael, one that I didn't understand at all. I looked in between all three of them as we got into the car. Huey made the whole car smell like weed. "The hell is going on? You two looked at each other like something is going on."

"Nah, it's nothing Jaz." Hiro mumbled as he back out of his spot and got behind the last car in line waiting to get out of the parking lot. Nobody was talking today, no jokes or anything. Hiro had turned on the radio and we all listened along in silence. Huey kept laughing quietly to himself and he even dozed off once or twice. I was grateful when Hiro pulled up in front of my house. He looked back at me, "I'll be back okay?"

I nodded, still a little ticked off I hadn't been told what was up with that look he and Michael shared. Maybe I would ask again when me and him were alone. Or maybe I shouldn't even ask at all? It wasn't really my place. They had known me for all but two days and the three of them have been friends for God knows how long. Maybe I was sticking my nose where it didn't belong. I looked at the blazed Huey, "We're here Huey, you coming?"

Michael looked back at me, "He's gonna stay with me for today, he'll get in trouble if he goes home." I nodded and closed the door. The three of them drove off as I opened my door. Hiro honked and I waved back half-heartedly at him. What the hell was going on with Huey?

 **I hope you guys liked! R &R! **

**Huey - 1**

 **Hiro - 2**


	5. Chapter 5

I sighed as I walked into my house. I was really worried about Huey and even more upset that Hiro wouldn't tell me what the look was actually about. Maybe I was being a little nosey and overstepping my boundaries, but so what? I shook my head and plopped down on the couch and put on Netflix. Maybe some tv would get my mind off of the two guys who I seemed to be thinking about so much lately. While Netflix was loading, I got up to get some water and some strawberries. I was pretty hungry but I didn't want to eat at home then go back out and eat again with Hiro. I pulled my phone out my pocket after I placed my bowl and cup on the coffee table in front of me, knowing Cindy would definitely know something about Huey. That girl was the FBI when there was something she wanted to know.

 _Hey Cin, I got a question_

 _ **Shoot mama**_

 _Huey was high today but his friends shared this look but wouldn't tell me what it was about_

 _ **Ohhhh damnn :/ poor Huey, hol up ima call you rn**_

Right after I read the message my phone started buzzing and I picked it up. "Hello?"

"Alright, so Huey had this lil boo thang that he fell for hard as fuck. I mean, that dude was head over heels in love. They was together for four years, I think? Since like eighth grade. Anyways, she played him hard, got pregnant, tried to tell him it was his. She had him thinking he was bout to be a daddy! He was workin' hella hard and all that shit. Kid was born and wasn't no way in hell that the kid was his, DNA test proved it. He been fucked up since that happened. I mean, Huey, who do everything in moderation was drunk and high allllll the time." My mouth was wide open. I was almost in awe. It was a lot of information to absorb all at once. Now I understood why Hiro didn't say anything. "Damn…."

"I know," Cindy mumbled. "He said he was gon stop smoking though, he promised his granddad. Guess he didn't keep up with that promise though... He's like a different person when he high cause he smoke like three, four blunts at one time. He'll be so slumped he can't even hold a damn conversation."

"That's… that's really bad…" I literally couldn't find the words to say about the situation. I felt guilty I had been so nosey that I dove into something that wasn't any of my business at all. This wasn't something you told someone you knew for two days. Cindy let out a sigh, "I know but it's life boo, ya know? Anyways I gotta get ready for practice. I'ma text you later, bye." I said bye and hung up. What she just told me was a lot to digest. I felt bad for Huey. Falling in love was scary, and for it to be shattered to useless pieces in a matter of seconds hurt. I had never personally fell in love, or had my heart broken because of it, but I had heard plenty of stories to come to the conclusion that it was something that wasn't easy to get over.

I only had an hour left before Hiro would be picking me up for our date. I wanted to kill some time but there wasn't much to do when it was so cold outside. I decided I would work out for thirty or forty minutes, just because it was better than doing nothing and laying around. After that I'd get in the shower and get ready for my date.

Thirty sweaty minutes later, my workout was over. My legs were wobbly and my thighs were as sore as ever but I smiled. I love exercising, especially the feeling of accomplishing what you had planned to do. I took a deep breath and chugged down a glass of water before making my way to my bathroom. I got undressed and stood in front of the mirror to wipe off my makeup. I turned on the water to let it warm up, finally stepping in after a minute or two. I knew that I would have to make this a quick shower if I didn't want to keep Hiro waiting on me. I grabbed my favorite body wash and scrubbed all over twice, to make sure the scent was really in my skin. I washed my face one more time, just to make sure that all my makeup was off and I turned off the water.

As I got out the shower and started to make my way to my room, I heard the doorbell ring. I looked around and scurried to the front door quickly in my anime towel. I groaned as I looked through the peephole and saw Hiro standing outside my door in his navy blue winter jacket. "Hiro! What're you doing here?!" I shouted through the door. "Uh…We have plans?" Hiro responded back. He scratched the back of his head, looking confused. "What time is it?" I said too low for him to hear through the door. I glanced at the clock on the oven and saw that it was 5:47. Hiro started talking again. "I was here on time, I've been standing out here for like fifteen minutes… I was calling and…" I immediately opened the door and a strong gust of wind swept over my body. I shivered, pretty sure the drops of water on my skin were now frozen in place. Hiro tried to look anywhere but at me but failed, I was slightly relieved that he had settled on looking at my face. He stepped in, pushing my to the side as he closed the door behind himself. "You coulda just told me you were getting dressed, I would've kept waiting."

"What? No way, it's freezing outside! I'm soooo sorry I left you out there, I lost track of time." I could feel my face turning beet red, it's not like there was anything wrong with being naked and truth be told, I loved being naked. Just not in front of some cute guy that I only knew for two days, who was about to take me on a date. "Anyways, I'll be right back out okay?" And with that I walked as fast as I could to my room without looking like an idiot. Behind my door I let out a sigh of relief. Of course my ass would lose track of time when it was important. I slapped my face as I went to put on some cocoa butter. Ten minutes later I was dressed in light blue ripped jeans with black legging underneath and the same sweater I had worn to school. My brown booties were by the door in the living room. When I came out, Hiro was sitting at my kitchen table scrolling on his phone."Hey," I said as I came up behind him. "I'm really sorry about leaving you out there." Hiro raised his hands up in the air and shrugged. "No problem, you ready to go?" I nodded my head and went to put on my jacket and my shoes while he waited for me by the door. I locked the door behind us and we walked to his car. I smiled when he opened the door for me, "Thanks." I blushed.

"Of course Jazmine." he smiled as he slid into his seat and clicked his seatbelt on. I did the same. "So, what'd you do to make the time pass?"

I rolled my eyes jokingly, "I talked to Cindy for a bit and then I decided to work out. Which is why I showered and left you outside in the cold for fifteen minutes." Hiro laughed and nodded. "You know Cindy? Wow, small world. She's a crazy cool chick though."

"Yeah we met on Instagram and bonded over makeup. She's my best friend. I met her for the first time yesterday, it was great. We went over to Huey and Riley's."

"Makeup, huh? Speaking of makeup, you look great without it. Not that you don't look great with it but… it's just… I'll just shut up before I look like an idiot. You get what I'm saying." I blushed and nodded my head, "Thanks Hiro." It wasn't like I wore a lot of makeup in the first place. Some bb cream, eyeshadow and lipstick, some light contouring, too. I knew how to do more than that but my everyday look was pretty simple. But it did feel great to be complimented on my natural face. I knew my nose was a bit wider without contour and that my forehead was a little bit bigger, but Hiro had liked it anyways. "So, how do you think you'll do on that test in Ms. Gold's class next week?"

Hiro groaned and shook his head. "Terrible as hell. Worse than failing. You?" I chuckled nervously and shrugged my shoulders. "Probably the same as you, honestly. Math is in one ear out the other for me. Maybe we should study together?"

"Yeah, I'm okay with that but I doubt I'll be of any actual help." I shrugged again. "We'll just find someone who knows what they're doing to help us out." There was a lapse in walking after that and that's when I noticed the song that was playing. I smiled wide. "Oh my God, your music selection is a dream come true Hiro, I love this song." It was Caretaker by DRAM featuring SZA.

"You a DRAM or SZA fan?" he asked, turning it up a little. "Both! They're amazing!" I don't know why, but I started to sing the first verse of the song. I wasn't a terrible singer but I wasn't no Beyonce.

 _I'll take care of you, I will_

 _Even if I got a man now_

 _I heard you a fan now_

 _It's a little bit too late to take care of me_

 _You could still_

 _Even if I gotta man now_

' _Least you know where I stand now_

SZA went into a falsetto that I didn't even try to copy, after that, I started to sing the rest of the verse.

 _I've been there_

 _Tell me everything you think I wanna hear_

 _I'll take care of you, I will_

 _Even if I gotta man now_

 _Cause I been fucking fans now_

My voice had cracked a few times, causing me to laugh and Hiro to crack up. DRAM's verse came on, and even though I knew the words I decided not to rap along. Hiro looked at me as he stopped at a red light. "I really want to put the song in one of my mixes, but nobody ever wants to listen to some slow deep shit at a party, you know? I love getting the crowd hype but this song is sooooo dope."

"Wait… you make mixes like… DJ mixes?" I asked, slightly surprised. That explained why his music was so diverse. He nodded his head and started driving as the light turned green. "Yup. Ever since eighth grade. I get paid pretty good now cause I built up my reputation. I'm not huge but I have a pretty decent following, it's great."

"Wow… Is it a hobby or something you plan on doing professionally?"

"Well I want to do it for a living, but I know that it might not work out that way. My parents hate that I even think about doing it as a hobby, say it's a waste of my time. They want me to have an actual career. We're ten minutes away, by the way. Anyways, it's fun and I get paid but I can't do it when my parents are home or it's just this huge arguement."

"Do they travel a lot or something? Oh.., I'm sorry if I'm asking too many questions." I asked, really hoping I wasn't getting too personal. "Yeah, they're only here for a few days every two weeks. They have a few businesses over in Japan that they need to be there for."

"That's cool. It sucks that they're always gone though. Do you have any siblings?"

"Nah it's cool that's the whole point of tonight, to get to know each other. But yeah, I have two older siblings. They live with me. It sucks being the youngest." He laughed as he pulled into the parking lot. "Ha, try being the only child. I was spoiled but lonely as hell. This place looks really nice, and I can smell the food from over here." It was a small casual Indian restaurant. I was glad that it wasn't anything fancy for two reasons, one because I wasn't dressed for fancy and two, because a fancy first date just didn't sound fun to me. We got out of the car and walked in together side by side. There were a few people in the dining area and we were greeted nicely by the hostess, who led us to our table. A few minutes later a waitress came to get our drinks. I ordered some water and Hiro ordered sprite. Once she walked away, Hiro spoke again. "So… I'm sorry about earlier with Huey and all. I know you wanted to know what was going on but it wasn't my business to tell, you know?" I nodded my head and bit my bottom lip. "I know what it was anyways, I got Cindy to tell me."

I glanced down, not knowing if Hiro would be upset or disappointed. He looked at me and shrugged, "Like I said, not my business to tell. He's one of my best friends and I wouldn't betray his trust like that." We both sat awkwardly for a few minutes until our waitress came back with our drinks. I let out a heavy sigh. "I'm sorry Hiro, for being so nosey. I know it wasn't my place."

"Nah, it's cool Jaz, don't sweat it. Anyways, tell me about they type of music you like and all. We can start on some common ground."

I smiled and sipped at my water. "Well I'll honestly listen to anything that I find nice to listen to, whether it be lyrically or musically, you know? But I'm really into rap, it's just… It can be so diverse. Well everything _is_ diverse, but rap is just amazing. I didn't grow up with it or anything but I did grow up with a crapload of r&b music." Hiro nodded. "I blame 90s r&b for my high expectations for relationships."

"90s r&b slaps, it's great. But yeah yeah, I get you on the rap thing. You got all these different eras of rap, all sounding different from one another. Its craaaaazy. Can you rap Jaz?" Hiro snickered, a smile pulling at his cheeks.

"Ohhhhh my god, no I can't. I can't freestyle, I can't even sit down and make a rap. I'm really good at learning a rap though." I stuck my tongue out and finally picked up my menu. "All of this sounds good… What should I get?" He rubbed his stubbly chin, "Hmmmm… Well you're a vegetarian, right? Their meat samosas are good so try their vegetarian ones?"

"Sounds good to me. I wish I wasn't a vegetarian sometimes." I pouted.

"So just don't be a vegetarian anymore, duh." Hiro laughed as I kept scanning through his menu. I shook my head vehemently, "No way! Do you know how bad the meat industry treats those animals?"

"You sound just like Huey!" Hiro mumbled. Our waitress came back over to us and took down our orders. I had ordered some vegetarian samosas and Hiro ordered tikka masala. I told him I'd probably eat all of his pita bread on the account of me loving bread more than anybody on this planet. "You really can't say you _don't_ feel bad for the lil' chickadees and cows!"

"Can too. Chickens are ugly and I love me some steak and burgers." Hiro busted out laughing while I stared up at him. Eventually I joined him and started to giggle until he raised his hands up in defeat. "I'm totally kidding, I feel bad for them but what's one person gonna do to a company with that much money? Nada. No reason for me to suffer needlessly without my meat. I rolled my eyes, "See _everyone_ has that mindset, so if they didn't then half of the US would be vegetarian to some extent!"

"But Jaaaaaazmine! I can't give up meat, it's a part of my culture!" I wiggled my finger at him and shook my head, trying to hide a smile. "You're Japanese, aren't you? I'm pretty sure Japan has some vegetarian dishes."

Hiro shook his head vehemently, ignoring my words. "Goodness you're worse than Huey."

I laughed, "We haven't ranted about vegetarianism and its benefits on the country yet. I don't think I'm _that_ bad though!" I turned to see our waitress heading towards us and another following behind her with our plates. "Ooooh, foods here!" she set down Hiro's tikka masala and my samosas. The other waiter that was behind ours set down a plate of pita bread. They smiled at us and told us to enjoy our meal and we thanked them.

"Wow your food looks so good." I pouted as I glanced over at Hiro's dish. I wouldn't be able to have any because it was chicken. Hiro smirked and shook his head. "I'd share, but you're a vegetarian, remember?" I stuck my tongue out at him before glancing down at my plate. My food did look good, two huge samosas and some sauce on the side. "Okay, so if I pig out you cannot judge me later. Promise? Oh, and I'd take your share a pita bread right now before I eat it." Hiro laughed and grabbed two slices of pita bread. "I love me a girl with an appetite."

I blushed and started to eat, not trying to pig out and make a fool of myself. It was mostly quiet as we ate but we talked in between bites and food and sips of our drinks. It turned out that we both really liked anime, fashion, and books. So we managed to talk about some of our favorite things out of each. Of course, I knew about makeup but Hiro couldn't tell an eyeshadow from concealer. I also loved shoes, but I wasn't much a sneaker fan like Hiro. He loved movies, old ones, new ones. He was surprised when I had said I hadn't seen too many and that we'd have to get everyone together and have a movie night.

After that the rest of the night went smoothly. Hiro paid the bill for our meal after we shared dessert and he drove me home. He put on Bas' new album and I showed him that I could rap, as long as I knew the words. It was a bunch of fun, and when he pulled up in front of my house, I couldn't help but be a little upset our date night was over. I blushed, "Thanks Hiro, I had a lot of fun." he nodded and waved the compliment all. "You're welcome Jaz, I'm glad I got to know you a little better. Do you want me to walk you to your door?"

I shook my head, "No that's fine. My parents are home and I bet my dad is peeking out the window right now." I laughed even though I was being serious. My dad cared but he was a bit overbearing sometimes. Hiro nodded and unlocked the door. Feeling a bit daring, and partly because Hiro was such a sweetheart, I planted a kiss on his lips. His lips were soft and I almost laughed at how long it took him to respond. It was a short and sweet kiss, I opened the door and looked back at a red face Hiro, "Goodnight Otomo." I closed the door and walked up to my door.


	6. Chapter 6

The next few days went pretty smooth for me, it seemed like me and Hiro were hitting it off really well. Huey barely crossed my mind even though he'd been missing from school for three days. I decided to just mind my business and focus on things that had to do with me. But like I said before, Hiro and I were _really_ hitting it off. I didn't necessarily have any feelings for him, but I liked how carefree I felt and how much fun we had together. It had only been five days since I met him, but we shared a lot of moments already. I smiled to myself before reminding myself that I needed to pay attention to what my teacher was saying. Today was Friday and I was zoning out repeatedly today and I was only in my second period.

The bell rang, dismissing the classes to lunch, so I grabbed my things and started to head to the cafeteria across campus. I wasn't sitting in the library anymore, mostly because Huey hadn't been to school in three days, but also because I had found a seat at a table with Hiro, Caesar and his girlfriend, Ming. I hurried over to the lunch room, trying to make sure the cold didn't turn me to a popsicle, my jacket was in my locker. I met up at the cafeteria door the same time as Kayla. "Girl what are you doin' without a jacket?!"

My teeth were chattering, "I-I-I l-left it i-in my l-locker." She laughed and rolled her eyes as we walked to the lunch line to get our food. Hiro was ahead of us, getting a sub made. Caesar and his girlfriend, Ming, were in the hot lunch line. Me and Kayla were getting a salad, like we usually did. "So, what's up with you and Otomo?" I blushed and rolled my eyes. " _Nothing_ is up with us. We've just been hanging out is all."

"'Hanging out', that's bull! If it was just hanging out you wouldn't be blushing like that!" Kayla kept poking and prodding, even while we were getting our salads, but I didn't say a word. I didn't understand why she was so persistent to know in the first place. She was cool, but I had only known her for a week. Hiro and I _had_ done something a little more than hanging out but I wasn't going to tell her when I hadn't even told Cindy yet. "Okay fine Jaz, I give up! You'll tell me sooner or later."

I smiled in triumph as she pouted, walking in front of me to our table. Hiro was already there, eating his sub like he hadn't eaten anything in days. He looked up when me and Kayla sat down on the opposite sides of him. "Afternoon, ladies. Still keeping up with the salads huh? I don't know how those fill you up."

"Not everyone is a bottomless pit like you, Hiro."

"Nope, I'm kinda a bottomless pit." I said sheepishly as I poured my italian dressing over my salad. "I just eat a lot of snacks in between meals. Hiro waits and eats like it's going out of style." The three of us kept up the conversation up until Michael and Ming came over to us. Kayla had left to go talk to some other friends really quick, she was always jumping in between groups of friends. Ming gave out the vibe that she didn't really like me, and I wasn't ballsy enough to call someone out on something I wasn't one hundred percent sure of. I had brought it up with Hiro and he said she just took time to get used to new people. Because of this, Hiro switched between conversations with Michael and Ming and me. I finished my salad in relative silence with a good fifteen minutes of lunch left. "I'll be at the library." I said getting up. Hiro turned to look up at me, "Want me to go with you Jaz?"

I shook my head. "No it's fine. I'll see you after school?" He nodded his head, not wanting to press the situation in front of everyone. "Later Michael, Ming. If Kayla comes back tell her I'll see her at the mall." They all waved goodbye as I went to throw away my garbage and leave the lunchroom. I walked as fast as I could through the cold air to make it to the main building. I sighed in relief when I made it to the school door. The library was up the hall and around the corner. I didn't really have anything to do, honestly, but I felt so awkward with Ming sitting at the table. I was making my way towards the makeshift lounging area for reading when I saw a familiar afro in my peripheral vision. I turned my head and was surprised to see Huey sitting down reading a book. I walked towards him and sat across from him. "Hey Huey. What's up?"

"Hey Jazmine." he looked up and nodded his head at me. He dog eared his book before closing it which I took as a good sign. Hopefully it meant he would actually talk and not ignore me. "Nothing much, you? Is it cool if I can see the work I missed?"

"Yeah of course! Do you want it now… Or in class? I mean you can take it home too, you missed a lot." I said just a bit too quickly for my liking. It was weird how as soon as I saw him again I felt the nervousness creep up on me. He smiled slightly and nodded. "I was thinking maybe you could come over and we could go over it? Today or… whenever, really." I chuckled, "I thought you were the black revolutionary who knew it all?"

He shrugged his shoulders, "Weed does mess you up, just a little. I know it, but…" he sighed and shook his head. "I'll stop playing around since you couldn't go along with it. I don't really need help with the work, I know most of it by heart. I just wanted to hang out." He looked me dead in my eyes and I had to be honest, I liked how direct he was with it. Hiro had blushed and stumbled his way through it, but Huey was… well he was assertive. I felt a wave of heat roll through my body. I had a thing for assertiveness. "I'd hang out with you without being under the guise of studying." _Because you're hot and smart and so damn interesting,_ I thought to myself.

He nodded his head slowly. "Have I missed anything interesting these past few days?" He snorted. I shook my head and rolled my eyes. "There was two fights, other than that, you didn't miss much. Where've you been?" Huey shrugged his shoulders. I knew what the reason was, but he didn't know that I knew. I nodded and changed the topic. "Are you up for a quick-" I glanced up at the clock, "-nine minute debate?"

He chuckled and shook his head, "Sadly, not today."

I pouted, sticking my lower lip out slightly. "Aw, what a shame." I paused for a minute and I don't know why, but the next words out my mouth were, "Me and Hiro have been hanging out these few days."

He looked at me and there was a flash of something on his face. I couldn't pinpoint what the emotion was but it wasn't his usual stern, indifferent face.

"Oh? That's nice. Hiro's a cool guy." Huey smirked. "Why'd you tell me though?"

I blushed and shrugged my shoulders, "I, uh… I don't really know. I guess cause you guys are friends…" My words faltered. I didn't know why I told him at all. Why would he even care in the first place? My face got hotter as I realised how stupid I looked. I chuckled nervously and bit my bottom lip. "Anyways, what's your book about?" I said, desperately trying to change the subject.

I saw a smirk come across Huey's face and I rolled my eyes when I noticed how nice his lips looked. "Eh, it's called Maya's Notebook. I rarely read fiction but this one is really good…" He flipped the book in his hand. It didn't have a library sticker on it so I figured it was his own copy. Old and worn out from the looks of it. "What's it about?"

"It's this girl who's stuck in Chile because she was doing some crazy shit in Vegas." I nodded my head slowly, wishing he would say something more in depth than just the basic plot line. I checked the clock and was glad that there was only four minutes left. As awkward as I felt right now, I didn't want to leave Huey's side. Even if he wasn't that great of a conversationalist I really enjoyed talking to him, even if I was doing most of it. "Anyways, I can go over to your place whenever… I have plans today with my friend but I can come over after or tomorrow. Do you want my number or…?" He shrugged his shoulders and pulled his phone out his pocket. "You have an android?"

"Yeah, I've got some bad experiences with iPhones. I wouldn't trust that thing if I was you." He shuddered lightly and I arched an eyebrow. I gave him my number in pieces and then he gave me his. The bell dismissing us from lunch rang and we stood up. We said bye, but ended up going in the same direction. After a minute or two of walking Hiro slid in between me and Huey. He dapped Huey up before wrapping his arm around my waist, looking down at me. "You okay Jaz?" I nodded my head, smiling. Hiro was so sweet, of course he was worried about me. "I'm fine Hiro, thanks." He gripped my waist in a way that sent shivers down my spine. He turned to Huey. "Wassup man, you good?" They started talking about some class they shared and some things I couldn't make a connection to. I watched them talk though, mostly Huey since Hiro wasn't facing me. His face was just as deadpan as usual, but I couldn't help but notice his eyes shift down to Hiro's hand every few moments. I was the first to leave the group, Hiro kissing the top of my head right before I reached my English class. I waved bye to them and left, wondering about why Huey's face turned into a slight frown as Hiro had kissed me.


	7. Chapter 7

_Huey's POV_

I wasn't a jealous person by nature. In my eyes, there was a rational reasoning for everything that happened, in one way or another. So when I felt the unfamiliar feeling of jealousy creep up on me as I watched how Hiro interacted with Jazmine, I was surprised. The grip of his hand on her waist, the soft kiss he gave her before she parted ways to go to class. All of it was subtle but screamed at me in a million ways. Why should I care about what Jazmine did with other people? She was just an acquaintance, albeit an interesting one. Maybe it was because I knew Hiro, and even if he was really feeling her right now, it wouldn't last for long. He showed interest in whatever dangled in front of him.

Deep down I knew that wasn't the case.

Jazmine reminded me of my ex. They were absolutely nothing alike. Kiara was a good four shades darker than Jazmine, with a short afro that she always kept well maintained. She had a disposition that was a lot like mine, too - nonchalant. Meanwhile Jazmine didn't share anything with her in the looks or personality department. Which is why I was so mad at why Jazmine was suddenly the only thing that I could think about whenever my mind wandered. If McPhearson hadn't ever brought her over to my house, if Hiro never gave her a ride home, I could've ignored her presence like I did everyone else.

But there she was, obviously cute, all though that didn't mean too much to me if there wasn't anything behind all the looks. Then she talked to me, she talked about the black community and politics. That didn't make her perfect, but it was more than enough to kick things off. To make me want to get to know her more. After I had gotten past the stupor she had put me in, making me remember Kiara, making my heart drop into my stomach again after I thought I was numb, I was pissed off. No matter how irrational it happened to be I was mad, but it wasn't her fault. It was mine and partly Kiara's for screwing me up so badly. I spent two days either high as hell or mad as hell and it certainly gave me a lot to think about. I spent the third day working up the courage to come back to school after showing my natural black ass in front of Jazmine like that. I decided twenty minutes before Jazmine showed up in the library that I was going to ask her if we could hang out. Then she told me about how she was hanging out with Hiro. It didn't make me sad or angry, just… surprised. The jealousy didn't pop up until I saw how they interacted with each other. Obviously something had went on between them, but that was none of my business. I just wanted to get to know her, as a friend.

Hiro turned and looked at me. "You sure you good man?"

I nodded slowly, not wanting him to bug me about what I'd been doing the past few days I asked him, "What's up with you and Jazmine?"

Hiro chuckled and shrugged his shoulders. "Nothing much you know… just been hanging out. She's a real cool chick, I'm feeling her. Doesn't move too fast either." He said sticking out his hand with his middle and ring fingers together. Usually I would've said something about his luck but it didn't feel the same this time around. I shook my head, "You say that about every girl you meet."

"I know man but look, Jazmine is… _wow._ She's so down to earth and humble. And she looks so good. And she looks so different with her clothes off, she's got this little belly and thick thighs. And you know I always go for the skinny girls but damnnnn." He chuckled. I just nodded my head. I was ready for a change of topics and started to talk about the work I missed in science. Being smart meant nothing if you didn't hand in homework and classwork. I didn't like what I was hearing, but saying I didn't want to hear it outright meant that I had a problem with Jazmine and Hiro being a _thing._ And I didn't, right?

When me and Hiro finally got to our science class, I was glad we had a lab to work on to keep us preoccupied. I sat down in my usual seat in the middle of the class and got my books out. I went up to the teacher to ask for any missed work, to show initiative that I 'cared' about my schoolwork. I mean, I do care but… this was menial work. Busy work, really. She made a face as she turned to look at me, "Well, maybe if you had been here, I wouldn't have to give you any makeup work." she said as she started to shuffle through her papers. I rolled my eyes, it wasn't my fault she was unorganized and petty. She handed me the papers and it took all my power not to snatch the papers out her hand. "Thanks." I said as I turned around to walk back to my desk.

At the end of the class, I turned in my makeup work and the lab work, sure that I was going to get a perfect grade on all of it. I knew she knew that I smoked, and of course she assumed that I spent the last few days in daze but even if she was right, there was no way that she was going to doubt me and get away with it.

I got to Black History earlier than Jazmine, and I was waiting for her to walk in. To really take in all the things that Hiro had mentioned about her earlier. When she came into the classroom her eyes went directly to where our desk was. A huge smiled blossomed on her face when me made eye contact, a smile that made my heart jump a little. I smirked back at her as she slid into her seat next to me. "I almost thought you wouldn't show up."

"I can't miss anymore days." I had already gone over the ten day absence policy for this semester and because of that I was technically failing all of my classes until I got those absences repealed.

I couldn't help but smell the cocoa butter wafting off of her, which drew my eyes to her skin. It looked smooth and moisturized and it shined in the light. When I finally looked up at her, she was looking up at me with her green eyes expectantly. "Did you say something?"

"Yeah, I said my plans got canceled, I can come over today after school. Is that okay with you?" She paused. "Are you okay, you seemed out of it for a minute?" I shook my head and shrugged. I was out of it, but not for anything negative. I was about to ask her how her last period went when Mrs. Smith called Jazmine up to her desk. I couldn't help but stare as she made her way over, hips swinging. Hiro was right, she was thick. I bit my bottom lip and tried to look away as she leaned over to glance at something on Mrs. Smith's computer but I couldn't help myself. I was surprised myself, because I usually went for the slim, athletic build in a female but I couldn't lie and say that Jazmine wasn't attractive. When she turned around to come back to the table, I glanced at her front and it was… it was just as nice as the back. When she got back to our table, I tried to look anywhere but at her. I wasn't a pervert but I had a lapse of judgement for a moment. "So, how was your last block?" I asked quickly.

"Wooooow, Huey's feelin' talkative today, isn't he?" She smirked at me because slumping back in her chair. She had on a grey sweater and dark blue jeans. "But, it was okay. I have an essay due on a book I haven't even read. I tried explaining to her that I wasn't here to read the book but she didn't even care." She shook her head as she sighed, obviously annoyed to no end. "How was your last class? You have it with Hiro, right?"

"Yeah, science. It was okay, had to do a lot of work." I shrugged. "She was doubting me so I did all the makeup work and today's lab." There was a silence between us before she busted out laughing, only to be silenced by the late bell ringing and the door slamming shut. Much more quietly this time, she laughed again. "Huey Freeman, you're so petty!"


	8. Chapter 8

The car ride home from school was like every other day this week, music and talking. When I got out the car I said bye to Hiro and Michael, not mentioning anything about how I'd be hanging out with Huey in a little bit. Not much to my surprise, Huey hadn't said anything either. Hiro pulled away, saying he'd text me once he got home and I nodded. I waved to Huey as we walked our separate ways across the street.

My mom was home from work today, something she really deserved for all the long hours she worked. When I got in the house, she was sitting on the couch, in her robe and slippers with a movie playing in the background. "Hey sweetie, how was school?" She turned to smile at me as she paused the tv. I took off my shoes and made my way to the couch to sit next to her. "It was okay, how was your day?"

"So relaxingggg," she laughed, "had a bubble bath, painted my toes, lounged around all day."

"I'm glad today went well Mommy. I'm gonna be going across the street today, is that okay?" She nodded her head. "That's the house with the two brothers right? What about that boy you've been hanging out with?"

I blushed and shook my head, "He's just a friend mom, besides he's friends with Huey and Riley." I got up and grabbed my backpack and walked to my room, shutting the door behind me. I would've sat down and talked more with my mom but Cindy had told me she would be calling me as soon as she got home for the details about what me and Hiro did two days ago. She called right on the dot at 4:12. "BITCH YOU BETTA TELL ME WHAT WENT DOWN!"

I yanked the phone away from my ear, "Ow! Cindy you can't yell in my ear like that!" I waited for her yelling to stop before I bought the phone back to my face. "Alright, you calm yourself down yet or do I need to wait a few more minutes?"

"You can't be mad at me, you took two days to tell me something! My mind has been wandering girl! Did you get dick!?" I gasped and shook my head, even though she couldn't see me. "Oh my god, no Cindy! I just met him!" I glanced at my door, just a little paranoid my mom might overhear my conversation. "He just gave me head. A little fingering." I paused. "Cindy he's so, so good with his tongue, oh my god. We were at his house watching a movie and he was just rubbing my knee and everything and at first I was like 'Pause, you're cool but I'm not giving you anything.' and he was like 'Nah, it's not even like that' I rolled my eyes cause you know how guys are nowadays, but he moved his hand out the way then he just straight out asked me. He didn't even ask for me to return the favor or anything. He said he just wanted to _taste_ me. I swear Cindy he was so good, I came twice."

Cindy squealed and I could imagine the grin on her face. "Wait wait wait a damn minute! What about Huey? I thought you had a lil thing for him!"

"I mean, he's cute and interesting and all that, but I don't know… I can't get past that 'I don't care' demeanor of his. Speaking of Huey, I'm going to his house today."

"Jazmine DuBois! They are best friends you can't play them! I didn't know you was the player type Jazmine!"

"I'm not playing anybody! I'm just hanging out with Huey. He said he wants to get to know me. Besides, I'm not tied down, I can hang out with either one of them if I wanted to." I believed that, wholeheartedly. It was one hundred percent okay to hang out with two different guys to see who you like more. I thought it was tacky to mess around with two best friends, yes, but I wasn't messing around with either with them. Okay that was a lie since Hiro had just ate me out two days ago, but I hadn't done anything with Huey and he was a friend, just a friend. Cindy scoffed, "You may not be tied down but I bet you something bout to go down while you're with Huey."

"They're best friends, why would he even mess around with me in the first place? Huey isn't like that. Besides, I told Hiro beforehand that I was single even if we were messing around. He's okay with that."

Cindy sucked her teeth at me, "I don't know, Jaz, I feel like you settin' yourself up for some drama. But wasn't you supposed to be going to the mall with someone today? What happen to that?"

"Oh, Kayla? She canceled on me for whatever reason. I didn't really get an explanation or anything. Sucks, I really wanted to go shopping, too. Wanna come with me tomorrow, or do you have plans?"

"Nope, I can chill with you, I'm alllll yours tomorrow. Wanna meet up at the mall or want me to come to your place? I would invite you to my place but it's fucking packed right now. Why don't we invite the Riley and Huey?"

I shrugged my shoulders, "We can meet up at the mall or I can pick you up. I think my parents will let me drive since they'll be home and the snow is clearing up just a little. And I'll think about it." Sometimes I wished that I had a car, but my parents needed theirs to get to work and right now getting my own car wasn't in the budget.

"Ugh, okay but yeah, come pick me up! How does 1:30 sound?"

"Great, see you then Cin." I smiled as we hung up.

It was a little past 4:30 and I was ready to go to Huey's but I didn't want to look too eager. I grabbed my makeup remover wipes and brought them into the bathroom with me. I was just trying to pass the time for a little while longer, at least for another fifteen minutes. When I was five minutes in and removed all the makeup that I possibly could have, I started to brush my teeth. It would have been a little obsessive to brush my teeth for ten minutes, so I stopped after singing the ABC song three times and then I went back to my room to grab my phone. I said bye to my mom before putting on my shoes and jacket and then headed across the street. The cold wind snapped and whipped around me as I huddled further into my jacket. I can't believe I used to think that the winters back in Maryland were bad, they had nothing on the weather here. I walk/ran up to Huey's door and rang the bell twice, trying my best not to shiver. I didn't hear anybody come to the door over the loudness of the wind, so I jumped when I saw Riley swing the door open. "Damn, get yo ass in the house, you lettin' all the heat out!"

"Oops," I mumbled as I shuffled into the door so he could close the door behind me. "Sorry."

"Mhmmm, what you doin' over here?" He said as he locked the door and made his way back to the couch where he was playing video games. I shrugged, "Nothing, me and Huey are gonna hang out today is all… By the way, do you wanna go to the mall tomorrow? Me and Cindy are going around 1:30, I'm driving." Riley didn't turn to look at me but he said yes and I smiled. Cindy and her little boo thang would have some time together. I just hoped that Huey would say yes so I wouldn't have to be third wheel. "He in his room. And don't do nothing nasty cause I'm here and I don't wanna hear none of that. And Granddad will come in and whoop all our asses and I ain't tryna have that."

I blushed a deep red, kicked off my shoes and placed them with everyone else's were and scurried over to Huey's room. His door was closed so I knocked twice before cracking the door open. He was sitting on his bed, earphones in and bobbing his head to the music. His eyes were closed and he looked so relaxed I almost didn't want to disturb him. I tapped his shoulder and smiled. He opened his eyes slowly, his dark brown eyes sending shivers down my spine. "Hey Huey."

He took out his earbuds and sat up on his bed. "I thought you weren't gonna come."

"We never said any specific time, so… I kinda just waited. I didn't want to come too early." I mumbled. A smirk bloomed on his face as he looked at me. "Nervous?"

"No, of course not!" I said with a little bit too much emotion for it to even sound true. I rolled my eyes and sat down in a chair that was by the desk. He shook his head. "I can give you something if you're cold, no need to keep your jacket on." I nodded my head quickly, the coldness of outside still making my teeth chatter lightly. I shrugged off my jacket as Huey got up and grabbed a blanket from his closet and tossed it at me. I wrapped it tightly around me as it's warmth settled around me. "Thank you."

"Mhm." He paused, probably looking for something to say. I wouldn't be surprised if he was feeling a little awkward because I was in the same boat. "I honestly jumped the boat when I invited you over. But, we can chill and do whatever. There are some good documentaries on Netflix or we can watch shows instead. Or we can just talk. I'm okay with anything."

"Look who's nervous now?" I laughed and shook my head. "Can I sit by you?" He nodded his head and I made my way over to sit on his bed. He had a full sized bed, so there was plenty of space for the both of us and we shifted so that we were both sitting side by side. I snuggled up in the blanket more, sighing softly. It was a clean blanket that was obviously just washed and it felt soft and plushy. "We can watch tv and talk? What's one of your favorite shows?"

"I guess I don't really have a favorite. I watch the news and a lot of documentaries, obviously. I like anime and I guess some shows aren't that bad. I just haven't given them the chance." He wasn't lying when he said he liked documentaries and anime because it was all over his netflix. I smiled and looked at him. His jaw was defined and it looked like he was clenching it. Huey also hadn't looked at me once sit I sat down on his bed. "Relax?" I said as I reached out and tapped his jaw before grabbing his chin and making him look at me. He was so cute, I swear. From those dark brown eyes, to his full lips. I bit my bottom lip and grabbed the remote from him. "Ever heard of Samurai Champloo? It's one of my favorites." I searched it and was going through the episodes... that were all watched. "You've seen it already!?"

"I'm pretty into swords and that time period in Japan is interesting. I didn't know you liked anime. I'm up for rewatching it, if you want." I nodded my head and put on the first episode. It felt good to have a common ground on more than just vegetarianism and politics. I had seen the series time and time again and Huey admitted that he had too. So it was mostly talking about the show as a whole more so than watching. His favorite character was Jin, who was a smart and critical fighter with a serious personality. He reminded me of Huey, just slightly. My favorite character was Fuu's pet, Momo, and Mugen. If I had to match Mugen's personality to someone I knew, it'd definitely be Riley. We were three episodes in when Netflix asked us if we were still watching when we noticed how dark it was in the room. It was pitch black outside and the only light in the room was coming from the tv and the streetlights outside.

"Who knew you knew so much about the Edo period in Japan?" I laughed. As much as it was about the show, Huey couldn't help but point out what was and wasn't accurate in the show, though most of it was spot on. He shrugged his shoulders and looked in my direction. "I thirst for knowledge."

"That's a good thing. It would suck if you were as dumb as a rock. Our conversations wouldn't be nearly as fun." I smiled at him before checking my phone. I had a couple texts from Cindy, and two from mom saying to be in by curfew, be smart, and that my plate for dinner would be in the microwave if I wanted it, and if I didn't to put it in the fridge. It was only 6:24, nowhere near my curfew. I yawned and stretched out. "Sleepy?" Huey asked as he got up to turn on the light in the corner of his room. I shook my head. I could nap, yeah, but it was mostly just the sitting in the dark and sitting down that had me yawning away. "I'm surprised Riley hasn't barged in yet."

"Oh, I think he thinks we're doing some dirty." I blushed as Huey arched an eyebrow. "Really? I guess that would explain it. Want something to eat?" I nodded and followed behind him as he made his way down the hall and into the kitchen. Riley wasn't playing video games anymore, probably because their granddad had taken control of the tv. "Hey there, cutie pie, when did you get here? Huey I know yo black ass ain't makin' no babies in my house. Don't need no repeat of that damn drama again."

Riley was sitting on the couch snickering and Huey ignored the both of them. "What do you want? Anything you can find is yours to have except the orange juice." His kitchen was slightly smaller than mine and we brushed past one another more than once making our way around the kitchen with the table in the way. "Oh, okay. Anything?" He nodded his head as he pulled out a fruit cup with grapes, strawberries, pineapples and melon. "I don't really want to eat up your food. Can we share something?"

"Sure. Grab two forks? They're over there." He pointed while he waited for me by the entrance to the kitchen. We walked back to his room and I closed the door behind me. "Is this all you're gonna eat tonight?"

"No, I'll make something when you go home." He shrugged and we got back into our spots on his bed, nice and comfortable. I handed him his fork and we dug into the fruit bowl, eating in a relative silence. "I love pineapples so much. Last year I ate so much that my tongue started burning."

"I've had that happen before. Hurts like hell." Huey chuckled.

"I guess moderation is key to everything huh?" I joked. He nodded his head and I laughed. We looked up at each other at the same time and I saw the blush creep onto his cheeks, which made me blush more. "You know Huey, you give off that I don't give a shit vibe but you're really nice… I like that."

He cleared his throat and nodded, chewing on a strawberry slowly. "I appreciate that. You're not as dumb as I thought you'd be at first glance." I rolled my eyes and told him to shut up. I grabbed the remote and played the next episode of Samurai Champloo.

My conversation with Cindy replayed in my mind. He and Hiro were best friends, I shouldn't play them. But I wasn't, was I? I scooted closer to Huey and leaned my head against his shoulder. It took a minute, but he snaked his arm over my shoulders and pulled me closer to him. He smelled so good, it wasn't a cologne smell but more of a natural smell, or maybe just a good mix of his soap and lotion. Whatever it was, I liked it. I might have been overstepping my boundaries but I laid my hand on his lower stomach and almost gasped out loud at the firmness of it. I don't know what I had expected but it wasn't that. I bit my bottom lip and tried to focus my attention on the tv. Huey shifted and squeezed my shoulder lightly. "What're you doing?"

I jumped up and shook my head, "Nothing, nothing, sorry. I was just getting too comfortable." I said, trying to explain myself. He shook his head and put his hands up in defense. "I was just asking, I don't have a problem with it."

"Are you sure?" I mumbled as I slowly got back into my previous position. I heard him say yes and once I was settled again, his arm moved and wrapped around my waist. He rubbed my hips slowly and the touch of his hand left my skin burning. I closed my eyes, trying to relax. His touch, being this close and it feeling so… nice, made me nervous. With Hiro, it was all about relaxing and having fun. But sitting here with Huey's arm wrapped around my waist and my hand moving lower and lower down his stomach felt right.

"Jazmine." Huey said quietly, his voice deeper than usual. He grabbed my hand and pulled it back up to where I had originally placed it. He didn't say anything besides that, but I could see the slight bulge in his sweatpants. I looked up at him, "Sorry, it just felt right."

"I know," he sighed. "It would've been simpler if… you weren't messing around with one of my best friends and if I wasn't dealing with my own shit."

"He told you?" I groaned loudly, embarrassed and angry. Embarrassed because what if Huey thought differently of me? I had my limits but he couldn't possibly know that. For all I knew, he saw me as a girl who was getting head from Hiro and trying to get something from him. Then I was angry because Hiro had told Huey in the first place.

"I don't think any different of you. Relax." He said softly as his hand kept rubbing up and down my hips. I sat up and nodded, leaning into his neck and brushing my lips softly against his skin before kissing his neck softly. "I know that, stuff happens, and…" he paused as I pressed another kiss to his neck, "...and people get caught up and all. No hard feelings." It was nearing 7:00 now, and all though I didn't want to leave anytime soon, if I stayed I wouldn't be able to hold myself back. I didn't know what it was, but I was attracted to Huey Freeman in ways I couldn't explain. I kissed his neck again, sucking on his skin but not long enough for a hickey to form. He groaned softly and shifted again, "I should probably head home now. Me, Cindy and Riley are going to the mall tomorrow. Do you wanna come?" He hesitated for a moment but nodded slowly. "Sure, what time?"

"I have to get Cindy at 1:30 and that's what I told Riley but be ready at least twenty minutes before then, okay?" He nodded again, obviously at a slight loss for words. My own feelings were a little hurt, he had technically rejected me, but I knew his circumstances and I knew he was a good friend. He was probably just being a good friend.

If getting a chance to get closer to him meant making me and Hiro strictly friends, I would do that. I just didn't want to hurt his feelings. I sighed softly, leaned up to kiss Huey on the lips and got off his bed. He followed after me, pulling on a pair a shoes from his closet. "I'll walk you over. Just give me a minute." I nodded and grabbed my jacket from the chair and went to the living room to put my shoes on. I figured he had to get rid of his little problem, all though if you asked me he wasn't in anyway little. I said goodbye to his brother and his granddad and waited for him by the door. He put on his black jacket and we started walking across the street to my house. When I slipped on a patch of ice on the sidewalk in front of his house, we walked the rest of the way with his arm wrapped around my waist. When we finally got to my door he let go of me. "I'll see you tomorrow?" I asked. "Tomorrow." he nodded as he started to turn back around. Nobody wanted to stay out in this weather for too long. I nodded and smiled, unlocking my door and heading inside.

I didn't know where all these emotions for Huey came from all of a sudden, but I was ready to welcome them with open arms.


	9. Chapter 9

**Lmao, y'all callin Jazmine a hoe? I think it's cool to talk to one or two guys as long as you aren't stringing them along and you know you're gonna make a decision in the end. Because life is short, have fun, you know? Anyways thank you for all the reviews they mean the most to me. Like I said, everything is about to start getting interesting!**

When I woke up the next morning, I had a few text messages, two missed calls and one missed facetime call from Hiro. I sighed softly, he _did_ say he was going to text me once he got home and I totally blew him off. I went through the messages.

 _Hey, I'm home what's up? 4:36pm_

 _Aww, Jaz you left me hanging, wyd 6:14pm_

 _One missed facetime 6:39pm_

And so on, so forth. He texted me while I was Huey's and then after I got back home I was doing my own thing and barely paid any attention to my phone. I felt a little bad, but I was busy. I bit my bottom lip and texted back, _Good morning :) I was busy yesterday, sorry that I couldn't answer you, what's up?_ Of course after spending yesterday with Huey and almost doing… who knows what, I didn't really want to talk to Hiro. I didn't wanna pit them against each other because they had been friends for a pretty long time, almost ten years Hiro had told me, and I didn't want to become a friendship. Maybe I wouldn't get in between in the first place with Huey's guard up. I was more than a little surprised that he rejected me last night. It was like he was sending mixed signals, but I understood his hesitation. I was messing around with Hiro and he knew it. I also knew that he was still dealing with the heartbreak from his last relationship. Adding another person, me to be exact, just complicated things. But there was a connection between me and him. Yesterday I had goosebumps wherever he touched me and I could feel his touch now, hours later. Even if me and Hiro had gotten farther, that touch didn't feel nearly the same as Huey's simple one. It was complicated and Hiro texting back didn't make it any better. It felt like a chore to text him back because I just wanted to be at the mall, walking around with Huey and maybe sharing a pretzel or something like that. What I was feeling for Hiro just a few days kind of just vanished and it made me feel terrible, honestly.

I shook my head and stretched out in my bed, I could hear my parents in the living room talking to each other. I pulled off my bonnet and went out to get some breakfast, rocking my little bantu knots proudly. "Good morning," I smiled at my mom and dad. My mom was sitting on the couch watching tv while my dad was at the table drinking some coffee. It felt nice to see them in their pajamas and not rushing to get to work. "Sooooo, I have a question."

"You didn't even give me a chance to say good morning back sweetie," My dad mumbled. I waited and looked at him, giving him his chance. "Good morning Jazmine. Sarah told me you were across the street yesterday? There aren't any girls over there."

"Oh, goodness Tom don't start this." My mom groaned.

I nodded my head slowly and pulled out the orange juice. "That's right, I was with Huey. He's a friend from school. Why?" My dad was as protective as they came and if he had a problem with the boys I brought back home from Woodcrest, I knew he would be over the top here in Chicago. I shook that thought from my head, I wasn't going to be bring Huey home anytime soon.

"I just want to remind you that boys only have _one_ thing on their mind, sticking their you-know-what's in girls! And he may just be a friend but I want you to be wary of any intentions he might have. And make yourself very clear when you say no." I sighed and sipped at my juice before grabbing a greek yogurt and granola bar before sitting next to my dad. "He's just a friend daddy. Okay? Besides, I'm not a little girl anymore, I'm 18. What're you gonna do when I move out?"

My mom finally chimed in, "Cry on the floor until he has snot bubbles." Me and her laughed while my dad put this incredulous look on his face. It was true, he did cry a lot, and usually until he had snot bubble after snot bubble. It was really gross when you saw it in person. Despite all that, I knew he meant well by telling me. He was really scared of me getting pregnant before getting married, or at least settled down and financially stable. "Aaaaaanyways, can I borrow the car today? We're just going to the mall."

"Who's we?" My dad at the same time as my mom said yes to my question. I rolled my eyes jokingly as I crumbled my granola bar into my yogurt. "We is Cindy, Riley, Huey and I. I said I'd drive."

"Fine, as long as you fill up the tank before you come back home. And don't drink and drive. And keep both hands on the wheel. And eyes on the road at all times, even at a red light. And drive just below the speed limit." My dad rambled off. He kept going on but I managed to tune him out and eat my breakfast in a relative peace. I went back into my room, it was only around 9:30 and I had some time to pass so I decided to finish my homework and start reading the book for my paper. It was a short book so I knew it wouldn't take too long to finish it and by the time ninety minutes had passed I was finished. It only took another hour to finish the rest of my homework minus the paper. I decided that I might as well get ready since it was nearing twelve. It didn't take long considering I just had to wash my face and brush my teeth. I didn't want to wear any makeup and I wasn't taking down my bantu knots until I woke up Monday morning for school.

I called Cindy, to make sure she was awake. She had a tendency to sleep in really late when she didn't have practice on the weekends so I wasn't surprised to find out that she was knocked out when I called her. "Come on Cin, get ready."

"W...wha time is it?" she mumbled.

I tried not to laugh at her. "It's twelve."

"Bitch you must be playin! I got another hour. Ugh you playin games." Cindy groaned. "I'm takin my ass back to sleep call me when you on your way."

"I swear if I'm outside waiting for you for more than ten minutes I'm leaving you. And oooooh, guess who's coming? Rileeeeeeeey." I teased her. She cussed at me then hung up and I was dying of laughter. Messing her was so much fun, I should probably do it more often. I bet she was blushing her ass off. I got up off my bed and made my way to the bathroom to get ready so I could take my time going through my closet to see what I was going to wear.

While I brushed my teeth and washed my face, going through my usual morning routine sans the makeup I thought about my situation just a little more. I was messing with Hiro, while crushing on Huey. Me and Hiro had clicked really fast and he was nice, easy to be around and thoughtful. I knew more about him than I did Huey. He ate me out and I could say he was good at that, all though that didn't really matter to me. He took me out to eat, paid attention to me and brought me random snacks sometimes. He knew my moods even though we only knew each other for a week. Huey, on the other hand? He was a pretty big mystery. I knew about his ex, I knew he was a vegetarian, he was big on politics and liked anime and watching a bunch of documentaries. He was knowledge hungry. He made something inside me want to kiss him all over and his touch gave me goosebumps. But that was all I knew. If I was going to be practical, Hiro would be the best choice. See what could happen between the two of us, if anything did. If I wanted to go out my bubble though, I'd choose Huey because I knew I couldn't be sure what he'd do. Would he want to be more than friends with me, or would he write me off completely? To me, the right thing to do for myself was to take a little more time to get to know the both of them so I could make a choice.

I spit out my toothpaste and started to gargle my mouthwash until I couldn't take the tingle anymore. I walked across the hall and into my room, closing the door behind me. I went straight to my closet and looked through everything first. Today was still going to be cold, so I didn't want to be the one looking super cute but freezing my ass off at the same time. My mom had always told me to be practical. It took a good twenty minutes, but I decided on light blue skinny jeans with some leggings underneath for warmth, my purple Air Max Nike's and a baggy black sweater. I put in my big hoops and studs in my second hole before sighing loudly. Now all I had to do was pass the time.

 **40 minutes later**

I beeped the horn in front of Riley's and Huey's house and dialed Huey. He picked up after the third ring and said "Yeah, yeah we're coming." before hanging up. Five minutes later he and Riley were walking out the door. Riley came straight to the car and hopped in the front before I stopped him. "Cindy already called shotgun, sorry." I smiled, pointing towards the back. He sucked his teeth and rolled his eyes. "That's fuckin booty, she not even here, she can't call nothin." Hueylocked up the house and slid in the front, but this time I didn't say anything. "Aye! What the hell? I thought Cindy called-" Riley started yelling before I interrupted him. "Huey can get out before she gets in."

"Oh, so the lightskin bitch just did me dirty. Aight, I feel you Jazmine, I see how it is. I ain't gonna forget that, trust and believe me." I waved him off, laughing and did a k-turn to start towards Cindy's house. It was only a good five minutes away but we were already running late because Riley and Huey wanted to take their sweet, sweet time. I turned on the radio and just drove, trying not to look at Huey. I was still a little nervous because of last night. A few minutes later I pulled up in front of Cindy's house and she was already outside, standing in her purple jacket. She slid in the back seat next to Riley. "Wassup Reezy?" They dapped up and I looked in the rearview mirror to smile at her. She looked up at me and smiled. "Hey baby girl! Thank you for picking me up. Please don't let me spend all my money at the mall Jaz, I've been saving up."

"Only if you don't let me spend all of mine." I laughed. "Okay, so I have no idea where the mall is, Huey give me directions?" I said, speaking to him for the first time. He nodded and told me where to go while the four of us talked about any and everything. Cindy and Riley seemed to be talking about the last basketball game, but I could care less about sports. When Huey wasn't telling me where to go, we talked some more about another show, some news about the presidential debate. Twenty minutes later I was pulling into a spot and we were walking towards the mall.

"It's fuckin' cold outside. I shoulda kept my black ass in the house." Riley said in his usual loud voice, I pulled his hat down to cover his ears and sucked his teeth. Cindy rolled her eyes, "Pussy."

"Don't make me turn around and fight you."

"I wish you would. Short nigga syndrome, huh?" Cindy laughed. "Who you callin' short?" She wasn't paying attention and Riley turned around and ran to her, picking her up and swinging her over his shoulder. It was hilarious because I knew Huey and Riley were taller than six feet, I was a solid 5'6 while Cindy was almost 5'9. Riley had picked her up like a rag doll though, and she was screaming her ass off. He ran off with her into the mall while me and Huey took our time getting there. I bet the people in the mall were looking at them like they were crazy. I took the time alone to say something to Huey.

"So, I'm sorry about yesterday. Thanks for coming." I said weakly. We reached the doors and Huey held it open for me. He shrugged and looked at me. "It happens, don't stress it it's no big deal."

"Yeah I know, but with Hiro and your ex and… Ohhhh shit." I bit my bottom lip and cursed myself inside my head. He looked at me, his eyebrows arched high and a look in his eye that I never saw before. "What about my ex?"

"Nothing about your ex." I mumbled quickly, looking for Cindy so she could pull me out of this mess. He shook his head and stopped dead in his tracks. "Who told you about my ex? What do you even know?"

"I said I slipped up, I don't know Huey." I said again, getting a little bit louder.

"Bullshit, I'm not okay with my business being told to someone I barely know. Who told you!?" He said, towering over me with anger. I bit my bottom lip. Shit, shit, shit. Why was he even getting so mad? "I'm sorry Huey. I asked about it. You were high and gone for like three days and I was worried as hell!"

"Don't go sticking your head in business that ain't yours." He looked at me for a moment before walking off on his own, afro bobbing with every step. He was right, it wasn't my business. I wasn't supposed to know anything and it wasn't my place. But I poked and I prodded just because. I deserved to get yelled at, so I didn't cry and I didn't even chase after him. I pulled out my phone and called Cindy so she could meet me and we could go shopping together. All Huey would need was a little time to himself. Hopefully.

 **So, Jazmine blew it! Tell me what you guys think? Next chapter will be up soon. :)**


	10. Chapter 10

**Woohoo, 73 reviews? That's freaking great! I'm so glad you guys like my story, it really motivates me to keep writing. The input you guys give me really helps me know what you like/don't like.**

I stood in front of the store we came in from for five minutes before I saw Riley and Cindy come in tow with Auntie Anne's pretzels. I rolled my eyes and started making my way towards them. Cindy looked at me, "Wha happen? Where did Huey go?" I glanced at Riley then back at Cindy before grabbing her shoulder and pulling her off to the side. Riley mumbled something under his breath but I didn't bother paying attention to him. "Cindy, I think I just blew it. Huey knows I know."

She arched an eyebrow and took a bite out of her pretzel. "Huh? He know that you know about what?"

"About his ex. And he get pissed off and stormed off." I said, exasperated. Cindy tilted her head at me and made her 'the fuck' face. "Okay… I don't get why he got mad though, cause last time I checked everybody and they momma knew about him and Kiara."

"Nevermind that, I was being nosy! I deserved to get yelled at." Cindy shook her head at me and put her hands up. "Uh uh uh, Jazmine girl, I love you but Huey is not your nigga. Like I said, everybody and they fuckin' momma know about him and his ex, so what's it to him that you know? He's being an asshole. Besides he need a ride home so he'll be finding us sooner or later. Don't sweat it." I nodded my head slowly. I didn't really believe her one hundred percent but she was right on the last part. I was his ride and he'd have to link back up with us sooner or later. "Anyways, can we start shopping? I convinced Riley that we would all take turns shopping at our stores by buying him that pretzel."

"Yeah… that's fine," I trailed off as we joined Riley again.

"Finally, y'all was over there long as hell. We starting at Foot Locker right?" Riley smiled at us. Me and Cindy nodded and they lead the way to Foot Locker. I wasn't too excited to be going because I wasn't super big on sneakers and I wasn't too keen on spending all my money on one pair of shoes, but Riley and Cindy played basketball so they were practically in heaven. So while they argued over what pair of shoes was better and who really should have won this past season, I walked through each section of the store, looking at what shoes I would wear and what shoes would make me look dumb. After fifteen minutes of doing nothing I walked over to Riley and Cindy who had six boxes next to them that they were trying on. "Hey, Riley, where does you brother usually go when he comes here?"

He turned to look at me, "Uh… a book store? He don't really shop here cause it ain't 'black owned' and alladat bull. It's upstairs though."

"Thanks, I'll catch up with you at Vicky's Secret..." I checked my phone for the time, "In thirty minutes? And don't go spending all your money on sneakers Cindy!" I said heading out the store. I didn't really know where the bookstore was or even if it was something like Barnes and Noble or something local, so I went to the directory that was by the escalator and found the only bookstore that was in the mall. From the map it looked like it was in a small nook and cranny. I followed the vague directions on how to get there, but it took me more than a few tries to finally get there but when I did I wasn't surprised that Riley said Huey was always here. It was a small bookstore, but it had a homey feel to it and it smelled like vanilla and books. I walked in and was greeted by a short girl with big glasses. I waved to her and started looking through aisles in search of Huey. "Are you looking for somebody?" I turned to look at the girl and nodded. "Um… yeah my friend. He's really tall and he has a huge afro."

"Are you talking about Huey?"

"Yeah! Is he here?" I smiled, wondering why I was so happy that he was here. I tried to convince myself that it was because I didn't wanna walk around this huge mall trying to find Huey. The girl nodded her head and pointed towards the back. "Mhmm, he's in the back reading at a table."

"Thank you," I waved at her again and headed in the direction of Huey. He was hunched over the small round table, going through a few books. I walked up to him with bated breath. "Can we talk?"

"I think that if I wanted to talk to you I wouldn't have walked away from you in the first place." He said, looking up at me harshly. He didn't look mad, perse, but it wasn't his normal expression. His eyebrows arched up, like they usually did but the look in his told me he was feeling more than anger. I pulled out the chair that was across from him and sat down. "I'm sorry. I was being nosy… for no reason other than just being nosy. I get why you got mad." I sighed softly.

"I'm not tryna talk about this right now. Especially not with you. Just because you 'know' the story, doesn't mean you understand it." He shut his book and slammed it down on the table. He clenched his jaw, and I could tell he wanted to say more. I wasn't usually one to argue, really, but if you caught me at a bad time, I would poke and prod until an argument started. So that's just what I did. "Maybe you're so messed up because you're so shut off from everyone. That's why you go smoking weed until you're dumb high! That's why you miss just about a whole week of school! Because you're so big and bad, and you can't talk about your feelings."

Huey laughed and shook his head. "You funny, you really are funny. You come through and hang out with me for not even a few days, and you want to try and act like you know me? I've known you for how many days, Jazmine? Two? Three damn days? Mind your damn business. You're not even my friend, so what give you the right to be in my business?"

"Oh, it wasn't a problem that you didn't know me yesterday when I was in bed with you, was it?" I shouted. The two employees that worked at the bookstore were looking down the aisle at us, wondering what was going on. I stood up, just about ready to show my ass but I pressed my lips together and looked at him. "You know, Huey, I really liked you. But you're obviously dealing with some baggage. I really, really hope that you deal with it. I won't bug you anymore." I sighed and looked at him for another moment. If he really felt that way about me then why would I waste my time with him? I checked my phone and texted Cindy that was on my way to Victoria's Secret and left. Maybe I overstepped my boundaries but that wasn't an excuse for him to be an asshole. I didn't want to be with anybody who had baggage like that anyways. Heartbreak was a part of love, a part of growing up. Of course I don't speak from experience.

By the time I got to Victoria's Secret Cindy had already four bras and matching panties on her arm. I rolled my eyes and smiled as I walked up to her. She pulled a thong from a pile and held it up. "So, what happened? Also, is this cute or is it too frilly?"

"Too frilly," I rolled my eyes and searched through the drawers. "I guess we had an argument. Says I should mind my own damn business but he was being an ass."

Cindy scoffed and put another pair of underwear on her arm. "I told you to let him be girl, you should listen to me. Like I said, everybody and they momma know _his_ business. It happens, you know? How can he be mad at that? Don't make no type of sense."

I sighed, not really in the mood for shopping anymore. "Where's Riley?"

"I told him to go somewhere else cause I didn't want him to see what kinda underwear I get." Cindy blushed a deep red and I laughed. "It's not like you don't want him to see, huh? I bet you want him to be swimming in your ocean, hm?" I wiggled my eyebrows at her and she slapped me before doing Trey Songz' signature "Yeah" and we both busted out laughing, earning looks from a few people around us. That's why she was my best friend, even if I had just argued with the guy that I sort-of liked and was really confused, she still made me laugh like nothing was wrong.

By the time we were ready to leave the mall, it had been dark for a couple of hours. I checked my phone and told my mom I would be home by 11. So we had about four more hours to blow before I had to go home. The four of us were walking around, not really seeing any stores that we wanted to go in at this point. Huey had joined us a while ago, walking along with us and talking to everyone except me. Cindy had called him out on it and Riley snickered but other than that, he didn't even make an effort to talk to me. I rolled my eyes at how childish he was acting. "We should go out to eat. Everyone can chip in. You didn't blow all your money, did you Cin?"

"Nah, I got like, thirty bucks left. What about you? I know Riley damn near spent all his money at Foot Locker." Cindy laughed. "Where you wanna go?"

I shrugged my shoulders and glanced back at the Freeman brothers, "Does it matter where we go?" Huey looked away from me and Riley shrugged. "You and Huey don't eat me, right? Gotta find somewhere that got stuff other than that."

"Well, let's go to Chipotle?" Every agreed with me, except for Huey, of course. We started heading back to the store we came from so we could go back to the car. While Cindy and Riley walked I fell back to the same pace as Huey and looked at him. "A smart person would be nice to the driver until they got home."

"You act as if I can't call a taxi?" Huey scoffed as he looked at me. I bit my bottom lip and walked faster to catch up with Riley and Cindy. I was trying to be normal, instead he was just being a jerk. "Uhm, you guys. Can we just pick up Chiptole, and not eat there? My mom needs me at home." Riley agreed and said he didn't care either way and Cindy looked at me. I figured that she was listening in on the small interaction between me and Huey. She nudged me with her elbow, her bags making a ton of noise. "You good?" I nodded my head slowly and she got the idea. We reached the door separating us from outside and I shivered as I could feel the coldness. I was going to make a dash for the car because it was colder than it had been when the sun was out. I took my jacket out of one of my bags and put it on, zipping it up all the way to my neck and then slide on my ear warmers. We all trudged through the cold wind, walking as fast as we could to get to the car. After getting everything into the truck, Cindy slid into the passenger seat and Riley and Huey sat in the back.

I turned the car on and put the heat on the highest setting. I pulled my gloves out my pocket so I could touch the steering wheel. Everyone sat in silence while I pulled out of my spot and drove out of the parking lot. To say the tension in the car was palpable would be an understatement, really. I sighed loudly and turned up the radio volume. _Girls Dem Sugar_ came on and Cindy shouted, "This is my song." As the song played she started dancing in her seat, singing along and humming. Riley was humming too and even Huey was bobbing his head in tune with the beat. At least it helped relieved some of the tension they were feeling. Cindy spoke up when the song ended, "Can we go to Wendy's or somethin' instead?" She mumbled. I know it was an attempt for everyone to get out the car faster, but what the hell was I going to eat at Wendy's?

"What can I eat at Wendy's?" Huey deadpanned. Cindy shrugged her shoulders. "Ionno, some french fries?"

"That's hardly a meal, and they fry the french fries in the same oil as they fry the chicken." He started up, sounding like he was ready to start a whole debate on Wendy's itself. Cindy put her hand up, "I don't wanna hear none of that anti fast food mumbo jumbo Freeman, save it for somebody who cares."

"Shut up McPhearson, how dumb can you be?" Huey countered.

"Suck it." Cindy rolled her eyes as she turned around. I bit my bottom lip. "We can get Wendy's." I knew it'd piss Huey off because maybe he actually was hungry, but I wasn't and I was the driver so I got to make the decisions. "Whatever." Huey mumbled. I looked at him through the rearview mirror every now and then, watching him glare out the window. It was crazy how much you could like someone until you got into an argument with them. If I was a rude person, I would've kicked him out my car and made him find his own way home.

 **Okay, so I know the last two chapters were kind of lackluster. It's only because I went off track with what I was supposed to do. Kayla and Jazmine were supposed to go the mall together, see Hiro and yada yada but for some reason I did the complete opposite because I wanted to add more Juey. I'm trying to get back on track now so just bear with me.**


	11. Chapter 11

**For everyone saying get on with the Juey and you can't take Jiro seriously, please stop. The summary for the story says a** _ **LOVE TRIANGLE.**_ **Just let the story progress how I intend it to. I think you some of you guys expect any story that's slightly romantic to be straight up romance and love but no drama, no plot. Huey doesn't** _ **know**_ **Jazmine and even if he does like, he's not gonna be cool with her being nosy and just spill his whole world to her. He's abrasive at first glance, and she's still on the first glance of course everything isn't gonna be super lovey dovey. Okay? With that said enjoy and thank you for your reviews!**

 _Hiro's POV_

I walked downstairs to the smell of fresh food, something that was a rare occurrence at my house. My mom stood in the kitchen getting what smelled like soup ready for dinner. I hadn't seen her since last month and to find her in the kitchen cooking was a surprise. "Mom, I thought you weren't gonna be home until next week?"

"It's a surprise!" she smiled at me, as she turned to give me a hug. I hugged her back and pecked her on the cheek. "I missed you ma. Are you making udon?" she nodded her head and turned around, getting back to prepping dinner. She always made what she could by scratch, that included the noodles. "Taro went to class earlier and I think Ken is at work, I'm not sure. How long until dinner is ready?"

"Hai, tell them to get home as soon as they can."

While I texted both of them that mom and dad were home, I asked how business was going back home. My mom respond in fluent Japanese which was easier for her to speak all though she knew English. I listened intently, not really sure of some of the words she was saying. Japanese was a difficult language to learn and while my parents had spoke it fluently while I grew up I never learned it traditionally and I didn't know how to write it either. I picked up one enough to understand that everything was fine, but there was a bad manager that my dad had to stay behind to deal with. Even though them rarely being home could be at an advantage to me and my brothers, we missed them a lot and it was always good to have them home with us, even if it was for a short period of time.

"Mom?" I paused, waiting for her to say something. "I'm seeing someone. I mean, we aren't together but I like her and, I want her to be my girlfriend."

"Hiro… you know how I feel about stuff like this. You want to have girlfriend but you barely pass your math class. You need to focus on education, not girls." She kept her back turned towards me as she chopped up some vegetables. "I can focus on school and a relationship mom. Taro has a girlfriend and you let him date when he was my age."

"You're not Taro and he was passing his classes. I don't even know this girl and you bring her up? Be happy your father was not here to hear what you said. Is it not enough that you do that music thing on the side? Focus on school. Then maybe we can talk about a girlfriend." I sighed and shook my head. "I'll be down when dinner is done." My mom didn't bother replying and I grabbed my phone off the counter and made my way back up to my room. I locked the door behind me and laid out on my bed. Everything I wanted to do was just a phase, or a 'thing', to my parents. The first person that came to mind to talk to about this was Jazmine.

Usually I kept everything to myself, Huey was a good friend but when it came down to emotions he might as well be a brick wall and Michael understood, but I didn't want to bother him with my problems every single time. My brothers could relate and of course they understood where I was coming from, but they weren't on the receiving end of my parents misunderstanding and unacceptance. They never had been. So even though it had literally been a week me and Jazmine had known one another, I had told her a lot about me. A lot more than I might have ever told anybody. Too bad she hadn't been texting me back since Friday. I wasn't usually the type to double, triple text but how else can you feel when someone goes from texting you back right after you sent the message to texting you back three times a day? Maybe she was busy, maybe she was in a bad mood or on her period or… something. I didn't want to bother her more than I had already. I texted her:

 _Hey, can I ft you?_

A minute later she facetimed me and I felt so relieved to see her face. "Hey Hiro, what's up?" I rubbed the back of my neck and propped my phone up so I didn't have to hold it. "Nothing much, my mom is home and we kinda got into it. Besides, I wanted to see your face."

"Oh that sucks, wanna talk about it?" she smiled at me, "And aw, you're so sweet."

I nodded my head and went into explaining everything, minus the whole wanting her to be my girl part. She listened quietly as I gave her examples and explained how everything made me feel like I was less than, like I was the family disappointment because I wasn't planning on going to college and keep doing the DJing. "I mean, I just want them to get me, you know? School isn't for me and it never has been. I can't imagine going to school for another however years for whatever profession I don't want to do."

"Well it's not unreasonable, you know? I mean I can't say much because I don't know you parents or anything… but it just seems like they want the best for you. Going to college and getting a degree gives you a better chance for a financially stable future than being a DJ, unless you really make it big. Also, you're eighteen and we're graduating soon, if it's something you really can't deal with you can always move out after graduation, you know?" I nodded my head. I already knew I would be moving out after graduation. Any amount of money I got was split into the save and spend category and I had a lot saved up. I'd get a job, find a roommate and split the rent with them. "But, enough about me. How was your weekend, Jaz?"

"It was… good. I guess. I went to the mall with Cindy, Riley and Huey." She seemed a little hesitant when she said Huey's name and I didn't really get why but I didn't bother pressing her about it. "Did you get anything or just window shop?"

"I bought a few things. But now I'm wishing I didn't get half of it because now I barely have any money. I bought some candles, clothes, perfume and jewelry. You know how much I love my hoops." I laughed and looked at her. She was barefaced and even though she looked good in makeup, she looked just as good without it. "Jaz, you're fucking gorgeous." She blushed and looked down away from the screen and it made me laugh again. "You have to make my cookies, don't forget!"

"I won't, I won't. I bought the ingredients, I'm gonna make them on Tuesday."

"I don't plan on sharing so take what you want before you give them to me."

She rolled her eyes and shifted on her bed so she was laying down. "You're so greedy Hiro."

"I can't help it, really. My stomach is like 'feed me, feed me' all the time." The smile on my face wouldn't go away and I could feel the soreness of my cheeks. "Anyways, what're you doing right now? Or.. I guess before I called you." Jazmine shrugged her shoulder and yawned. "I was just watching a movie on my laptop." She bit her bottom lip as she paused. "Hey, can I tell you something? And I understand if you get mad but what I did isn't me. At all." I felt like my stomach just dropped and nodded my head slowly. "Yeah… sure."

"I went over to Huey's house… On Friday. We were just watching some tv together but I don't know, the heat of the moment I guess? I don't know where it would have went, but he stopped me before anything happened."

"Oh." That was literally the only thing I could think of. I mean, what else was I supposed to say? Huey was my best friend and I really liked Jazmine. She had said Huey stopped her, but I had no idea what he stopped. Were they just kissing? Or were they gonna have sex? There was a lot I wanted to ask, but couldn't find it in myself to ask. Did this mean Jazmine didn't really like me? "Hiro, I'm sorry. I just figured you should know…"

"Yeah… thanks. Later Jazmine." I mumbled as I hung up the facetime call. What the fuck was that? And with Huey? I may have really liked Jazmine, but Huey had been my best friend for almost ten years. That same day I had just told him about how much I was feeling Jazmine, about how much I like her. Yet he's with her, close enough that they almost did something, whatever that something happened to be. What was I going to do when I had to pick them both up tomorrow?

What would have happened if they hadn't told me anything? Would they have kept it a secret and not bothered telling me, sneaking around behind my back. And Jazmine… she had said before she told me that 'it wasn't her'. What a load of bull. We had been talking for three days, and she had let me eat her out and if I hadn't said she didn't have to, she would've gave me head. How contradictory was that? How was I supposed to believe that 'it wasn't her' when I had told her how close Huey and I were? I shook my head. I can't believe that I had gotten in so deep so quick. It wasn't like I was in love with her, but I was going to ask if she wanted to be a thing. It was a good thing I didn't. But as upset as I was with Jazmine, I was five times more upset with Huey. He knew how I felt about her, yet he had gotten close enough to her for something to escalate that far.

 **The next morning**

I woke up the same way I went to sleep, mad. I brushed my teeth angrily, got dressed angrily, did everything except say bye to my family angrily. I didn't even bother touching my radio, worried that I might break it by mistake. After I had hung up on Jazmine last night, she kept calling and texting me, trying to talk but I couldn't be bothered with her. Like I said, I was mad. And that was the first thing Michael said to me when he got in the car. "Wassup with you Hiro?"

I shook my head and sighed heavily. "Jazmine and Huey." He looked at me as I slid his backpack on the floor in between his legs. "What does that mean, 'Jazmine and Huey'?" I chuckled. "I told you how me and her were hitting it off, right? Well apparently she and Huey almost did something, but of course I don't know what it is. I don't know if they almost fucked or what but they 'almost' did something." I said, driving off as soon as he closed the door. "Aw, shit. Are you picking them up?"

"Yeah, I'm not flaky." I mumbled. Michael shook his head. "Calm down, you know Huey ain't flaky… I think you gotta just hear him out and see what happened. You know how some chicks be, homie hopping left and right. That's why Ming don't like Jazmine even though she seem okay to me. But, you and Huey been niggas since fifth grade, don't drop all that for a girl you known for a week." I didn't bother saying anything but I nodded my head to let him know I was paying attention. As I got closer and closer to where Huey and Jazmine lived, I felt anxious and angry and it wasn't a good mix for me. I always got jittery when I was nervous and mad. Michael was smart enough to turn on the music, which calmed my frazzled nerves just a little bit. When I pulled on to the street, I only saw Huey standing outside waiting for me. I pulled up in front of him, looking back at him when he got in through the rearview mirror. "You know where Jazmine's at?"

"She got a ride from her dad." He said, closing the door. He pat Michael on the shoulder, saying good morning in his own little way. I turned around and headed to school, not even bothering to look at Jazmine's house. The car was quiet with the exception of the music playing. Michael knew what was going on and the tension that was in the car was obvious. "I know what you and Jazmine did." Huey looked up at me through the mirror. "And what exactly did we do?"

"She didn't tell me what, but she said it was the heat of the moment and it almost happened."

"Yeah, and I stopped whatever was going to happen from happening." Huey replied in his usual nonchalant tone, making me angrier than I was beforehand. "How the fuck can you sound like you don't care? You're one of my best friends and you was obviously close enough to her that something almost happened. How could you do that? I told you the same day how much I liked her."

"Look Hiro, I get why you're mad. I didn't try anything and we were hanging out as friends. I stopped her because of my respect for our friendship. So maybe you should get more details from her before pinning it all on me. I'm not going to fight you over her, but I guess I should let you know that you aren't the only one who likes her." He paused. "Like I said, I stopped out of respect for our friendship so I'm obviously not going to do more by putting that in jeopardy." What he said had made sense, but I had a feeling it was only because Huey had a way of making things sound like they weren't unreasonable. He liked her, so he could have her. I didn't want to be bothered with her anymore no matter how much I wanted to patch things up with her.

 **So a little peek into Hiro's life and feelings and some drama between friends. Jazmine got herself into some shit. Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed it! Let me know what you thought about this chapter.**


	12. Chapter 12

**I addressed this in my other story, and it only feels right to do it for this one. Rest in peace to all the black men, women and children lost to police violence. Rest in peace to Alton Sterling, Philando Castile, Delrawn Small and to every other person who may fall victim to police brutality in the future. As a black woman, it really pains me to see how unjust these cops are, how easily it is to fall prey to them. I have a black father, brother, mother, sister, etc; I fear for them daily. I want you to find something wrong with this, I want you to be angry that they are literally** _ **killing us for no reason.**_ **Over fear.** _ **Please**_ **educate yourselves and do your research. Do what** _ **YOU**_ **can do to bring awareness to situations like this whether it be marching in your city or posting your thoughts on social media. Don't be silenced. Please don't derail the #BLACKLIVESMATTER movement. Please tell your loved ones that you love them, please be safe. For non-poc, please support us. Thank you for reading, enjoy the story.**

Why did I tell Hiro what the hell went on between me and Huey? It wasn't as if me and Hiro were a thing and me and Huey didn't do anything. So why did I go opening my big mouth like I always do? I had been nervous ever since I told Hiro last night, a ball tightening in my stomach with each passing second. Now I look like a chicken shit because I skipped out on getting a ride from Hiro. I should've sat right down in his car and acted like I didn't do anything wrong.

But I didn't.

I didn't even know what to do with myself. I couldn't focus on my classwork, I couldn't take a nap. All I could do was be a nervous wreck. I didn't know Hiro like that. Sure, he seemed like a nice guy on the surface but for all I knew he could have been malicious, ready to speak down on somebody who did him wrong. Besides, not knowing whether or not he and Huey were talking about me like I was the kind of girl who tried to mess with the whole crew didn't sit well with me in anyway. I felt ashamed, all though I know I didn't have a reason to. Hiro seemed like a nice guy and I liked him. Huey seemed like a mysterious and deep guy, and I liked him too. I'm eighteen, they're eighteen, so where was acting like little kids going to get us? Of course I could say that to myself but not to anyone else, not unless I really felt the need to.

"Jazmine, did you not hear me ask you a question?" Mrs. Gold asked me, scaring me out of my thoughts. I blushed a deep red at being called out and shook my head, "No, I didn't. I'm sorry."

She pursed her lips, "Of course not, first you ignore the lesson and try to go to sleep, why did I expect you to be paying attention?" She said sarcastically before calling on some kid on the other side of the class. I bit my bottom lip, not sure why she was being so nasty about it. I wanted to say something so badly but she was my teacher and I had to deal with her for the rest of the year. It was better to stay on her good side. The kid answered the question and she smiled, apparently it was the correct answer. "Good thing you were paying attention, Jonathan, unlike Miss Jazmine over there."

"Not to be rude, but why are you calling me out?" I blurted out. "You act as if I'm the only person not paying attention to your lesson." I could feel my face turn red. The smile never left her face as she told me to go down to the dean's office. I rolled my eyes as I grabbed my bags and left the classroom. She called goodbye after me as I left and it took all the strength in the world not to flip her off. There wasn't anyway I was going to the dean's office, not like I even knew where it was in the first place. I didn't want to take my chances wandering the hallways for another forty-five minutes, so I headed down to the library, hoping I wouldn't need a pass to get in during class time. I almost stopped dead in my tracks and turned right around when I saw Hiro walking in my direction, talking to two guys. I looked straight ahead, trying not to make eye contact but of course he would notice me. "Hey Jazmine."

"Is that her?" The guy on the left said, ogling at me. Hiro nodded as he stopped walking. What the hell did he mean 'is that her'? The other guy just looked at me and laughed. "Will you give me and the squad top, too?" Hiro looked at both of them before hitting them on their arms and pulling them down the hallway.

What. The. Hell.

I turned around and walked down the hall after them, I didn't need a teacher coming out and asking for a hall pass. "Hiro!" I sped walked faster until I caught up with them, his two friends walking off. I got in Hiro's face when he finally turned around to face me. "What do you want?"

"I pray that you did not lie and tell these boys that I sucked your dick, because that's never happened. Don't go around trying to slander my name because you're mad. That's petty." I said. It took all I had not to cry. This wasn't going to stop. Maybe Hiro would have heard me out, maybe it wouldn't be so bad if he hadn't told anybody those lies. But gossip spreads around school like the plague. Those two boys were going to tell whoever would listen and then I'd be the new girl that sucked dick only after being here for a week. Nobody would listen to what I had to say, that I didn't give Hiro Otomo head and that it was the other way around. I sniffed, dabbing at my eye so my mascara would get messed up. "Fuck you Hiro. You might as well be a little kid." I said, turning around and heading towards the library.

I spent the rest of my math class in the library, and the rest of my art class, grateful the librarian didn't pay me too much attention. He had made some other kids who looked like they were skipping class leave and walk to the dean's office, but I figured since I grabbed a book and sat down quietly I wasn't too much of a problem. I don't really know why I skipped my first two classes, maybe because I didn't want to run into Hiro or Huey, or anyone else Hiro had opened his big mouth to. Maybe I was just overreacting? A rumor was just that; a rumor. As long as I knew the truth, then I should be okay, right? The bell dismissing second block rang and my stomach growled loudly. I was hungry but I didn't want to go through the lunch line so I stayed in the library, hoping Huey wouldn't show up. I kept my head down and in my book, reading quietly and turning up my music a little bit. I had read half of a chapter when I felt someone tap on my shoulder. I glanced back and cursed under my breath when I saw Huey towering over me. "Hey." he said, sitting down at the table next to me. I waved at him, "Thought you weren't talking to me?"

"I wasn't but Hiro had some stuff to say to me this morning." I shrugged my shoulders at him. "I'm not mad. You did what you thought was the right thing to do. I figured you wouldn't eat lunch with him considering you skipped the ride to school this morning. Look, Hiro… he's a great guy but he's the spiteful type. He always does it and always feels bad about it later, but until he feels bad about it himself, it'll keep going on. I'm sorry he's spreading lies about you, Jazmine. I know how easily a girl's reputation can be ruined when anything sexual is involved."

I nodded my head once, closing my book. "Thanks. I guess I'll be the school slut for a few weeks until someone else takes my place, right?" I shook my head, "That's fucked up and you know it is."

"I didn't say it wasn't, did I?" Huey snapped back. I rolled my eyes and shook my head again. "I guess you didn't."

"Want me to be honest with you?" Huey asked me, his voice softer than usual. I bit my bottom lip and nodded. "Like I've said, I've known Hiro for a long time. He is a great guy, he is mad chill and all that other stuff you might be interested in, but he's never interested in a new thing for too long. He's had four girlfriends this year and he thought he was in love with three of them. I'm not trying to make him look bad, I'm just telling you how it is. And there's nothing wrong with that, that's just his personality, you know?" I nodded, not really sure why he was even wasting his time telling me. Of course I was done messing around with Hiro, maybe in the long run we could be friends, but if he had hopes for more than that he ruined that by lying about me giving him head. "Okay, so why are you telling me all of this?"

Huey sighed heavily and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Because even though you really overstepped your boundaries, there is something about you I really like. So, why don't we try again?" I put my hand up and shook my head quickly. "I'd rather not. Next thing you know I've got another rumor going around about me and I don't want that. You act like you didn't say all that stuff at the mall."

"Yeah, I said it. In case you haven't noticed I'm not the nicest person. How would you feel if someone you barely knew came in and was poking their nose in your business behind your back?" I blushed deeply and looked away, mumbling a weak sorry. He chuckled and smirked. "I know how to keep my business to myself. Look, if you don't want it to be anything serious, I understand that. Give me a chance though?"

"And what about Hiro?" I asked quietly.

Huey looked at me for a moment. "I can talk to him. We can keep it on the low until he's over himself, if you want? And anyone else that messes with you, just let me know and I'll deal with it." I tried to look everywhere but at Huey. "You're… you're really frickin' confusing Huey. I don't know if you like me or hate me or wanna do whatever. Can you just, I don't know, make up your mind and pick an emotion?"

"I can't really help it." He shrugged. "Did you get to eat lunch?"

I shook my head at the same time as my stomach growled loudly. I laughed sheepishly and a small smile spread across Huey's face. "If you're up to it we can skip and go get some lunch."

"It's really cold outside, are you crazy?" I squeaked. "No, we can catch the bus downtown and find something and then catch the bus back home. Unless you want to come back?"

"Ugh, fine. I have to go to my locker to get my jacket. I hope you know that this is the type of thing that needs to be planned so that I can wear the right shoes. If I slip on a patch of ice in these shoes I'm suing you."

"Sure, sure. Come on Jazmine, let's go so we can make it out the same time as the bell. Maybe we won't get caught leaving campus." Huey smirked and stood up, grabbing my bag and handing it to me when I finally got up. I don't know why I was skipping the rest of the day with Huey. I had a feeling he was just a really good talker and made everything sound look a good idea. The last thing I needed was the school calling my parents saying I didn't show up to any of my classes today. Knowing my dad, he'd have the cops searching for me. I sighed. "This isn't gonna take the rest of the day, is it? I can't go home early just in case one of my parents are home."

"Come to my house afterwards." Huey said. I rolled my eyes and took my bag from him. I said bye to the librarian and we started to make our way to my locker. "As if going to your house has done me any good."

"If you wanna get caught, be my guest." He shrugged. I groaned and shoved him softly to the side, all though he barely budged. We were talking about Samurai Champloo, the show we watched on Friday when one of the kids Hiro was with earlier came into view along with some kids I've never seen before. He nudged his friends in the ribs and they all looked over at me. I immediately shut my mouth, looking straight ahead and trying to pass him. I heard him laugh to himself before they busted out, "I don't want no thot, a thot is somebody who bang bang everybody in my squad!"

I honestly didn't even know what to say. I really didn't. So while I stopped dead in my tracks, dumbfounded and frozen in place I watched as Huey approached the four guys and looked at them. "Are you talking to Jazmine?"

"Yeah, man, I know you know what the business is." One of them smiled at Huey, looking me up and down in a way that made me feel dirty. Huey nodded his head slowly and looked back over at me. "This is your warning, next time I hear anything about you calling her a thot or a hoe or whatever, you gonna have a problem with me. And don't go opening your mouths spreading shit you can't even validate." He clenched his jaw and stood up to his full height. "Y'all understand? If I hear it or if she tells me, matter of fact, if anyone tells me it's all y'all asses."

"Man, fuck outta here with that shit." The shortest out of the four sucked his teeth and shooed Huey away. Huey caught his hand in his fast and squeezed it. "Ow. Ow. Ow. OW! Wasgood with you nigga, let go!" He shouted. Huey squeezed harder and got in his face, "I can kick your ass. Don't disrespect her." Huey dropped his hand and they all walked away quickly, mean mugging him the whole time. I looked down and then back up at Huey and mumbled, "Thank you."

He shrugged his shoulders, "Nah, it's whatever. Even a hoe doesn't deserve to be ridiculed, and you not a hoe. Let's hurry up so we can catch the bell at the right time. It won't look right if we leave when there isn't anybody walking around.


	13. Chapter 13

**Thank you to everyone who's reviewed, With Me has reached over one hundred reviews! And extra thank you to those responded to my message from the last chapter, I appreciate y'all and what you guys are doing to help, to bring awareness! Side note: For any of my readers that also write fanfic (for any story not just The Boondocks) PM me if you're looking for an editor to just spell check for you and yada yada.**

"Oh my god, it's so cold. I can't wait until it warms up." I said to nobody in particular as me and Huey walked quickly off campus. I was glad my two bags weren't too heavy because I wouldn't have wanted to carry them trudging through the snow if they were. At least it wasn't super windy like it had been the past few days. "How far away is the bus stop from here?"

"It's a five minute walk. Can you handle that without complaining?" Huey said, a smirk on his face. I didn't really know what to say to him. I was still a little too happy over him standing up for me and it made my heart and stomach feel like there were little butterflies in them. I knew if I said anything more than thank you, I would just babble on like some kind of idiot. I sighed and walked closer to him as I put my earmuffs on. "I just wanted to say I'm sorry about the other day, at the mall and everything." Huey nodded his head before shrugging. "I got mad but it was for pretty much no reason. You could've asked that to anybody in this school and they could have gave you an answer that was at least fifty percent true."

"I know, but… Can I ask what happened?" I asked him hesitantly. He sighed and nodded. "How about when we sit down and eat? I'm not going to tell you everything but… you can know the minor details."

"You don't have to tell me anyth-" He cut me off by putting his hand in my face. "Stop babbling, I said I would, right? Anyways, have you watched that new show I texted to you?" I smiled sheepishly and nodded, "Technically, yes, but I can't get over the fact that it's not dubbed in English! I can never pay attention long enough and I have to in order to read the subtitles and understand it."

"That's because you have the attention span of a small child, I've seen you in class. One minute you're taking notes, the next to staring off into space and then the next minute you're doodling in your notebook."

I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms across my chest. "I can keep my attention on stuff! But it's hard listening to something in a foreign language! Besides school is different, at this point I'm just ready to graduate. I wish I would've done early release, I had the option. You think it's too late to change my mind?"

"I think it's pretty set in stone at this point, Jazmine. Or maybe not, you've only been here a week. Leaving early means you won't have class with me anymore."

I laughed and looked at him, "There's always lunch. Not like I'm going to sit at the table with Hiro anymore. Ming doesn't like me and that means Michael won't really talk much when she's around. Not like me and him talked much in the first place. Oh, do you know why Ming doesn't like me?"

"She thinks you're the type to get around." Huey said honestly. I wasn't really expecting that, I thought maybe she thought I was rude or stuck up because of resting bitch face, but if I was being honest, she had suffered from it too. "Oh, okay. Yikes. I didn't think that would be the case." We finally reached the bus stop, so all we had to do was wait for it to come. Huey checked his phone, "The bus taking us downtown should be here in a few minutes. Also, it's not that big of a deal. Ming judges people more than she needs to half the time. She's dating Caesar but she wasn't messing with him when they first met and she didn't give him the time of day. That's not saying she's going to open up to you, but there's the chance. Do you have two dollars? If not I can pay for you."

"No, I have change. Thanks though." I smiled, looking down the street at the approaching bus. I grabbed my bag to get my wallet out, holding it in my hand and waiting for the bus. Huey looked at me and grabbed my hand, pushing it down. "Hey! Why'd you do that."

"Small tip for living in Chicago and not _Woodcrest_ , that's where you lived right?" I nodded my head once. "Get your money out and then put it away. Don't just keep your wallet out because then someone might try to run past and snatch it from you. We may not be in the worst part of Chicago, but we aren't in the good neighborhood either. Okay?" I nodded again and stepped back as the air from the bus hit me. The doors opened and me and Huey climbed on, paying what we needed to. We sat down towards the middle since there were a few homeless people taking up the front half, trying to stay out of the cold weather. Other than that, it was fairly empty except for four other people. It made sense, since it was the middle of the day. I looked over at Huey, tracing the features of his face with my eyes. He was really good-looking but more so . He had full lips, his bottom slightly bigger than his upper. He had a nice jawline, too, it wasn't too sharp but well defined at the same time. If he had been looking at me, I would've paid a bunch of attention to his eyes. They were such a deep, unique shade of brown and they had so much emotion in them. Then his skin, the color of it was so nice, a lovely shade of caramel. What I liked the most about his face though, was that it wasn't perfect. You could tell he had had acne at some stage in his life because of the light acne scarring. He also had healed cuts and scrapes randomly on his face, although they were faded for the most part.

"Are you done staring at me?" He said, not even looking in my direction. I jumped and smacked his thigh. "You scared me, don't do that! And… I wasn't staring at you."

"Yes you were."

"No. I wasn't. Why would I stare at you in the first place?" I mumbled.

"Who knows? Ask yourself that. I know when someone is looking at me though. Instincts never lie Jazmine." He said softly. His hand patted my knee softly before he rested his hand in the same spot, rubbing my knee back and forth. Just like on Friday, I felt the heat from his hand send shivers to my spine and I smiled. How could such a simple touch get me worked up? Huey pressed the button that would let us off at the next stop and stood up as the bus pulled off to the side to stop. We got off in the back and stood close to Huey, letting him lead the way to wherever we were going to eat. The wind had picked up in the short fifteen minute bus ride, so I held onto Huey's arm and walked with my head down. "So, where are we going?" I yelled over the wind.

"It's a burger place, but they have a lot of vegetarian options. They have a really good black bean burger. Not that you have to get that. It's right around the corner."

Sure enough five minutes later, we were standing inside a burger joint that smelled amazing. All though I was a vegetarian, I could appreciate the smell of cooked meat. I glanced at Huey, "What should I get? Other than the black bean burger."

He pointed at the menu to the left that had vegetarian options. "Everything on that menu is really good."

"Can we get two but split our burgers?"

He looked over at me, "...No?"

"Why not? I've never been here before. Just so I can taste more than what I get." The man standing at the register was looking at us funny. "Are you guys still deciding on what to order?"

"Yes." Huey said, rolling his eyes at me. "Why do we have to share?"

"Best of both worlds? Who knew you could be so stingy. It's not like you're getting any less food." I mumbled. Huey sighed heavily. "Okay, Okay Jazmine. Order what you want."

"The veggie burger with onions, mustard and ketchup." I told the cashier. "Can I have the pink lemonade?" He pressed all the buttons and asked me if that was all. I was about to say yes when Huey came up behind me and said no, ordering his food. He ordered the black bean burger with avocado and chipotle sauce and some water with a side of fried. "Are we splitting it?" I asked him.

"I'll pay." The cashier told him the total and Huey pulled out a twenty and handed it to him. "Thanks Huey, you didn't have to do that."

He shrugged, "No problem."

We sat down at a table off to the side of the store with a view outside. I took off my heavy winter jacket, and placed it on top of my two bags on my side of the booth while Huey did the same on his side. While we waited for our food to be made we sipped at our drinks. I really wanted him to dive into telling me his story, but I figured I could wait until he brought it up instead. Fifteen minutes later our order was called and Huey walked up to get out tray and brought it back over to our table while I went up to get two knives and some napkins. Walking back to the table I smiled at how good the food looked. "That smells so good." I said, sliding into the booth. I handed Huey his knife before I started to cut mine in half.

"That's because it is good." He took another sip of his water and then went to work cutting his burger in half. We traded halves and then put the fries in the middle. "I wasn't expecting the burgers to be so big."

"Yeah, they're really filling. You can always get a to-go box," he mumbled. He took a bite of his burger and then chewed. I looked at his face and laughed at how content he looked while he was eating. I guess good food made him happy. I shook my head and started eating. We ate in silence for the most part, with comments from me about how good the food was and a bunch of Mhm's from Huey. Once we were done with our burgers, we muched on a few french fries and I looked eagerly at Huey.

"You want to know, don't you?" Huey groaned. I nodded my head once. "Only if you want me to know."

"Small details. So, me and Kiara were together for a long time. We were friends since fifth grade, started dating the end of seventh grade up until the beginning of this school year. Eight years is a lot of time to be with somebody so some pretty strong emotions were there, at least on my end." I nodded my head. Cindy had told me that they had started dating in eighth grade, but if they were friends beforehand, Huey might have lost his best friend and his love. Huey continued, "She told me she was pregnant the middle of junior year and I was in love, so I worked more hours so I could save and support her and who was supposed to be my kid. I tried to go to school but it wasn't top priority. Then nine months later, I'm in the hospital watching her give birth to a baby that didn't really look like me. But babies are babies and genes are weird, you know? Took me a few weeks to convince her to do a DNA test but turns out the baby wasn't mine. After that it was kinda hard for me so I started smoking all the time and was too lazy to go to school. I just got back on track this semester."

"Wow." I said softly. Eight years was a long time when you were only eighteen years old, when you put it in perspective. It was almost half of your life. And to have the girl you were in love with lie to you for nine months only to find out in the end that everything you did for her during that time was a waste, it must have been mind numbing. I looked up at Huey, who had his usual passive face on and reached over to grab his hand. "I'm sorry that happened." he shrugged quickly and looked off to the side. I was happy that he had opened up to me, but it was clear that he wasn't feeling the same. I bit my bottom lip. "I know that… I know that it took a lot for you to tell me that. And I know that you didn't have to tell me anything, but you did. I have no idea what it's like to be in love, at all… so I can't really relate to how you felt but thank you for telling me. Really."

Huey simply nodded his head. "Are you done? Because I'm done." I nodded my head and gathered all the trash together on the tray and dumped it. I went back to the table to put on my jacket and grab my bags. Huey already had on his jacket and backpack. "Ready to go?"

"Yeah." I smiled and we walked out the restaurant. Huey took us back in the direction we came from, down a few more blocks and across the street to another bus stop. "How long is it gonna take us to get home?"

"Maybe twenty minutes. School doesn't get out for another two hours so it won't be busy." He said, looking down at the time on his phone. "Bus should be here around now so we don't have to wait long. I think it's gonna snow soon."

I pouted, looking up at the sky, "It just cleared up over the weekend why's it have to start snowing now?" Huey shrugged at me, "You have that little ticket from the other bus, right?" I fished around in my pocket and pulled it out. "Good, give that to the driver when you get on." I nodded my head and stretched. I shouldn't have eaten that whole burger _and_ most of the french fries but I couldn't help myself, it was all so good. I looked over at Huey, "You know, I think it's pretty nice of me to give you a second chance, considering everything to said to me just two days ago."

"Like I said, I got mad. Put yourself in my shoes." Huey mumbled.

"Mhmmm, that's just an excuse though," I smiled and grabbed his hand, lacing our fingers together. He was hesitant to close his hand around mine and almost pulled away from me, but a moment later, we were holding hands. I held it out in front of us and looked at our hands together. His hand was so much bigger than mine but every time he had ever touched it was in nothing more than a gentle way, but I also knew that they could cause pain from the experience with the boys in the hallway. "Isn't Hiro going to think it's suspicious that we're both not getting a ride from him?"

"Not really, I don't always get a ride from him and you didn't get one this morning so I doubt he'll go assuming anything like that." Huey said, pulling me back as the bus pulled over to the curb in front of us. We climbed on the bus, which was fuller than the last one was and handed our tickets to the busdriver. Still holding hands we walked all the way to the back of the bus and sat down in the corner. "There's more people this time."

"It's not as early as it was before." Huey said and looked down at me. "Good thing the bus came when it did, it's snowing now." I smiled and looked out of the window in front of me as small white flurries fell from the sky. Fresh snow was always beautiful to look at. Huey still hadn't let go of my hand and it felt nice to be connected in such a simple way. I squeezed his hand softly and looked over at him only to see him staring off at the window into blank space. It looked like he was in deep thought so I wasn't going to ruin that. I knew he was probably thinking about Kiara since we had just finished talking about her. A small part of me felt jealous that he was thinking of his ex when he was with me, but the other part obviously understood that it was a fresh wound he was dealing with. All of that happened just a couple months ago, of course he was going to have baggage. What would I expect? I moved our hands onto my lap and rubbed the back of his hand softly. I don't know why, but I wanted to comfort him.

We sat like that for a good twenty or so minutes until we had gotten to our stop. I pressed the strip, recognizing that we were close to our home. It turns out that we could've gotten off at the next stop to walk less but it wasn't like Huey was paying attention. "It's not my fault! If I hadn't done anything you would've let us ride the bus over to where ever land." I rolled my eyes as we turned the corner onto our street.

"No I wouldn't because I was staring right out the window?" Huey said in an annoyed tone.

"Yes, you would have because you weren't paying attention." I countered back, trying to make my point. I had never really been on public transportation unless you counted a school bus, so how was I supposed to know that stops could be so close together? The two stops were literally five minutes apart, what was the point in that?

"I've lived here my whole life, I think I know when and where to get off the bus Jazmine." He paused. "You know, you're really hard headed, right?"

"Hmph, so I've been told." I mumbled as we walked up to Huey's door. I hadn't seen either of my parents cars in the driveway so it was safe to assume that they weren't home. I didn't have to worry about trying to sneak to Huey's place, but I had wanted to go in with him anyways. "Is your granddad home?"

"No, he isn't home during the day. He says that's what old people do." Huey pulled out his key and unlocked the door, letting me go in ahead of him. I was expecting to walk into a warm house but that was the exact opposite of what I got. It was just as cold in the house as it was outside! I zipped my jacket back up and turned to Huey who was locking the door behind him. "Why's it so cold it here?"

"My granddad is cheap, so if we aren't in the house the system goes off. I'll turn it on and it should warm up in a little. You can take your jacket off, I'll get some blankets" Huey said, disappearing down the hallway. Moments later I heard the system turn on. I was standing right underneath a vent and the air was cold. I shook my head and slipped off my shoes and placed them with the other ones and then took off my jacket and hung it up in the closet. I shivered softly and headed to Huey's room. He pulled out a comforter and put it on his bed. I stood in the doorway, trying to keep warm. "You can sit down, you know. Use the blankets." I nodded and pulled the sheet that was on his bed down and climbed underneath it before unfolding the comforter and throwing that one on top. Even his bed was cold so I wiggles around, trying to produce some heat. "Uhm, what are you doing?"

"Trying to warm up." I muttered, wiggling around faster. I stopped when I actually realized I was wiggling like a worm in Huey's bed and I most likely looked like an idiot. I heard him chuckle as he kicked off his sneakers and put them in his closet. After that he climbed underneath the blankets with me and I was instantly warmer. Why were guys also so much warmer than girls? I sighed softly and turned around so my back was towards him and we could get much closer. Just like before, he was hesitant at first, but then he snaked his arm around my waist and pulled me closer to him. "I can see my breath in the air! We're inside, that's not supposed to happen."

"I turned on the heat, you just have to wait." He mumbled. I could feel him breathing in and out slowly on the back of my neck but I felt his heart beating fast. He rubbed my stomach slowly and I sighed. "Let's put on some tv?" I said meekly. He was so close to me and my heart was beating just as fast as his. My body was against his and if that was all I had to focus on, I knew that the heat in between my legs wouldn't go away. "It's unplugged, but I can get up and plug it in if you want me to. That means going to plug in the wifi too, so we can watch Netflix."

"Why is everything unplugged?"

"My granddad is as cheap as they get." Huey mumbled softly. "Jazmine?"

"Yeah?" I said softly, turning to look at him.

"Can I touch you?" He mumbled into my ear softly. Shivers rolled down my spine and I felt my nipples tighten. I nodded my head slowly. Huey's large hand slid underneath my shirt and up my stomach to my chest slowly. He slid his hand underneath my bra and cupped my breast gently. I reached behind my to unhook my bra before pulling out from my shirt and tossing it on the floor. Soft kisses pressed against the back of my neck and it sent another shock down my spine, making my nipples tighten and get hard. "There we go," Huey sighed and I could feel the smile on his face. His fingers found my nipple and he squeezed them gently before tugging on them. I gasped softly and bit my bottom lip. Huey slid the arm he was laying his head on underneath me to play with my other breast before sliding his other hand back down my waist. His fingers unbuttoned my jeans and slid down, cupping my mound gently. He hadn't gone straight down into my underwear and I had to wonder why, not that I was complaining. He squeezed my nipple hard and I gasped his name loudly, arching my body against his.

He groaned softly and pushed my hips back against him. I could feel his dick growing against his jeans and I smiled. I rocked my ass in small circles against him, loving the sounds of enjoyment coming out his mouth. That was something I hadn't expected him to be, vocal. His fingers slid my panties to the side and rubbed against my lips gently. "You trim, hm?" He mumbled. I nodded my head slowly and he pressed more kisses against my neck. Two fingers slipped in between my lips, rubbing and pressing against my clit gently. I moaned softly and grinded my hips against his hand. "Fuck you're so wet," He whispered softly as he squeezed my throbbing clit in between his two fingers. I moaned loudly and turned to face him, still rocking my hips against his. "Let me touch you?" He nodded his head quickly, pushing the blankets off of us as I turned to face him completely. The air was still cold and I felt goosebumps all over my body. Huey turned over on his back and looked over at me up and down. I smiled and tugged off my sweater, and his eyes widened at the sight of my breasts. They weren't extraordinary, just a simple C cup but he licked his lips. "Do you like them?"

"Of course." He said softly, reaching up and touching them against softly. I laid my hand on his lower stomach and pushed his shirt up before unbuttoning his jeans and tugging them down to his thighs along with his boxers. His dick sprang up and I bit my bottom lip softly. Just the sight of it made me ten times wetter than I just was. "How big are you?" I mumbled, wrapping my hand around his dick and stroking it up and down slowly. He gasped softly, "Almost seven inches." I nodded my head, he was average length but he was the thickest I'd ever seen. I squeezed my legs together and rocked my hips slowly. It was slightly darker than the rest of him and it curved slightly, surrounded by soft, black hair. I pulled back his foreskin and licked my fingers before rubbing them against the head slowly. I wrapped my other hand back around his shaft and jacked him off slowly, changing how tight or loose I was gripping him randomly. He moaned under his breath and closed his eyes for a brief second. He pulled me closer to him and slid his hand into between my thighs, sliding two fingers inside me and fingering me deeply and slowly. His thumb rubbed and pressed against my clit slowly.

We worked each other like that for a while, teasing each other when we felt like the other was getting too excited. I don't know how long I was jacking him off or how long he was fingering me but when I finally came it felt amazing. He drew it out, pressing inside me against my g-spot until I was down screaming his name. I breathed heavily and rocked my hips against his hand slowly, loving the little aftershocks of pleasure. When his dick started twitching and his breaths got deeper, I knew he was close too, so I jacked him off faster, focusing on his head so he could get every sensation while he came. He bucked his hips up and groaned loudly and I kept stroking him as he came into my hand, not stopping until I got every last drop. He sighed deeply, "Wow." I nodded my head slowly, too busy licking up his mess to give him an actual answer. He glanced over at me and sat up. "You didn't have to do that if you didn't want to, you could've washed it off in the bathroom."

I shook my head and climbed on his lap. "I know I don't look like I'm naughty, but I am. I love cum." I laughed when his eyes widened.

 **She's a freak, she's a freak, she's super freaky! First smut scene of the story, guess I have to go change the rating now. Let me know what you think, (too much? Not enough? Never again? lol)**


	14. Chapter 14

**There will probably be two more chapters before I take a break till school starts again at the end of August. I'm not going to give up on the story but it'll be my little break so that when school does start I can be ahead and not keep you guys waiting for months at a time. Edit: Thank you to the guest reviewer who made my mistake later on, that what happens when you proofread at 2 am lol.**

I was the first to get off of the bed and go to the bathroom. My heart was beating fast as I closed the door behind me and locked it. Every moment of… of _that_ … felt amazing. I blushed deeply and looked at myself in the mirror, I had ran out of his room topless. What it Riley had come home or even worse, his granddad? I sighed and shook my head, sitting down to use the bathroom and clean myself up. After washing my hands I went back to Huey's room, he had already fixed himself up, as if nothing had ever happened. He had on a plain white t-shirt and basketball shorts. Even though he was covered up, I remembered the small dips in between his abs and the feel of him in my hands. I shivered and my nipples got hard again. I blushed and covered my chest and ran over to my shirt and bra that was on the edge of his bed. Suddenly shy, I covered up my chest and grabbed my clothes, turning away from him to get dressed. I could feel his eyes on my back. Why wasn't he saying anything? Why the hell was I so _nervous_ all of a sudden.

"Do you want to lay back down?" Huey asked softly. I pulled my sweater over my head and turned to face him, swallowing loud. "Uhm… I like you and everything but I shouldn't have done that. I'm not like that… I promise I'm not some fast girl who fucks the whole clique…" I blurted out quickly. Oh, so that's why I was nervous, huh? I guess that made sense in a weird, twisted way. There wasn't anything that I could say that would make him change his mind if he thought I was a slut. Huey was looking at me with an arched brow, "I don't remember saying that you were?"

"I know but I… you and Hiro… it hasn't even been a week." I said defeatedly. What was going on with me? I could count the amount of guys I had been with on one hand if you didn't count Hiro and Huey. Five guys in a span of eighth grade to senior year. I had made all of them wait before getting into my pants, except for one hookup at a party last year. I move to Chicago and suddenly I'm the girl who messes around with two different guys in less than a span of a week? What the hell. Huey sighed and stood up, "I'm not too good at comforting people. I can tell that you're upset but I don't think any less of you. And you didn't do it all on your own, so it's not all on you." I exhaled loudly, sitting down on the edge of his bed. I was worried. How stupid was I? Guys hung around other guys like them, and that meant maybe Huey was like Hiro, bitter when he didn't get his way. Bitter enough to tell anyone who would listen that I gave him a handjob, that I let him finger me. Huey sat down next to me and looked at me, waiting for me to turn my attention to him. I didn't want to look at him, I just wanted to go home. I wanted to call Cindy and have her come over so I could talk to her about it. She could bring over a bunch of junk food and we could pig out. "I wish I could say you were being a little overdramatic, but I guess I could see why you might be a little worried." he started, pausing for a moment, "I said I wouldn't tell anyone and I meant it. Even if you go and end up liking someone else in whatever time frame I won't tell. What happened between us stays between us."

"If you say so." I mumbled.

"We don't have to lay down together, we can go watch tv out in the living room if you want. We don't have to do anything sexual again til you're ready for it. Like I said, I want to get to know you, I just got ahead of myself." I nodded my head. Was it game? Was it honestly? I knew I probably should've cared a bit more about what his real intentions were but I couldn't. Not when I wanted to climb into bed and cuddle with him, to watch anime with him and kiss. Maybe it would backfire on me again or maybe it wouldn't. I smiled and looked up at him. "Can I kiss you?" I asked softly. He froze for a moment, like a kiss was much more intimate than fondling each other for half an hour.. And maybe in his world it was. I would kiss someone before I let them touch any private part of me, not the other way around. I didn't want a little peck on the lips like last time. "It's okay if you don't want to." He shook his head slowly before pulling me against him and kissing me softly. We were in an awkward position that made my back hurt but the kiss still sent butterflies fluttering in my stomach. I kissed him back, locking my lips against his passionately. His arms slid around my waist while mine found their way around his neck. He sighed softly and broke the kiss. I did my best not to pout and glanced up at him. Why'd he have to stop? "Riley will be home soon, school got out a while ago."

I nodded once, "Want me to go home?"

"No, you can stay. It's up to you." He sighed softly. We were so close just a few minutes ago, but it was almost as if the kiss we shared made him withdraw for me. Maybe I shouldn't have asked him to kiss, should have just waited until he actually wanted to kiss me. He wasn't going to force me to do anything I didn't want to, so I shouldn't force him either. I shook my head and looked down. "Like I said, you didn't have to if you didn-" the doorbell rang and interrupted me. Huey told me he'd be right back and got up to answer it. I wondered who it could be, considering Riley or his Granddad would have a key to their own house. I pulled out my phone and started to text back Cindy when I heard a voice and froze.

It was Hiro and Michael.

I gasped loudly and ran over to the door door to peek out into the hallway. I could hear Huey trying to convince them that he had brought someone home with him. I could feel my heart hammering in my chest. If I didn't want to face Hiro in school, in his car or in any other circumstance, I damn sure didn't want to face him in Huey's house. I bit my bottom lip and closed the door as quietly as I could. I didn't know what boundaries they had, if they would only go where Huey went or if they'd come in his room whether he was in there or not. What could I do? It would be pathetic to hide, and it'd make it look like I was ashamed of being here when I wasn't. I sighed softly and sat down at the desk in the corner of Huey's room. If they came in, so be it, but I was praying that nobody would.

 _Hiro's POV, 20 minutes earlier_

I was walking up to my car and was surprised when I only saw Michael standing on the passenger's side. I wasn't expecting Jazmine to be there, actually, I was grateful she wasn't there. But I had picked Huey up this morning and he hasn't said anything about not getting a ride. I figured he had skipped science just because, but he had obviously skipped the rest of the day too. "Sup Caesar, you seen Huey today?" He shook his head slowly. I unlocked the car door and we both slid into our seats. "Think we should stop by his place and see if he's okay?" He may have sort of double crossed me, but he was one of my best friends. I wasn't going to just drop him, I knew the stuff he had gone through the past few months.

"Yeah, we should. He usually say something when he skips though." Michael said as he scrolled through his phone. "I'd rather play it safe, you know? His granddad would kick him out if he got caught smoking again." I started the car and backed out, only to pull out into the traffic that was always in the parking lot at the end of the day. Twenty minutes later I was in front of Huey's place. While we were getting out, I glanced over at Jazmine's house, jealousy and guilt mixing together. Why did I go and spread lies about her? I was smart enough to know how fast rumors spread, and with the amount of people I told, it would be the news of the school tomorrow. I was glad that Caesar hadn't brought up anything during the car ride, it wasn't something I wanted to talk about. I knew he knew because during lunch MIng has cornered me and I felt like she was about to rip me a new asshole. She might not have liked Jazmine too much, even if it was because she didn't want her on Michael, but she she was big on not slut shaming women.

She didn't care if you were a slut, as long as you didn't mess with her relationship, at least.

We walked up to the door and I rang it three times. We heard movement so it was obvious someone was home, but if it turned out to be Huey's granddad we'd have to play it smooth so he didn't think anything was going on. Me and Caesar had planned that whenever Robert did answer the door when Huey was MIA, our excuse was that Huey had to stay after and we were picking up something that he forgot. For as much as he knew, we were all in a school club so it never looked too suspicious. It worked out because if Robert wasn't home alone he didn't come and answer the door. Huey opened the door, "Uh, hey, what's up? Why're you guys here?" He didn't really move back to let us in, but it was cold outside so we pushed our way passed. I didn't bother answering him, it was enough that I had drove over here in the first place.

Caesar smiled and took his hat off, plopping down on the couch. "Shit, it was a long ass day at school. You know Ming is breathing down my neck about staying away from Jazmine?" I rolled my eyes, of course Michael would bring it up without a care in a world. As much as I wish he hadn't brought it up in the same room as Huey, I liked how he acted like everything was normal. Michael shrugged his shoulders, "Jazmine's a cool girl though, you know? Don't know why she's acting like that towards her."

"Why are you guys here?" Huey asked again, sounding a little impatient. "We were worried about you, thought you were thinking about you-know-who again and skipped to smoke." Michael said as he turned on the tv and flipped through the channels. Huey shook his head slowly, "Nah, I'm good. Uh… I got a friend in the back…. If you know what I mean." Michael laughed and peeked down the hallway. "Oh shit, are you forreal? Huey went and got him some! My man."

"Who?" I asked, wondering who Huey could possibly be messing around with. He didn't always tell us everything, but we would've noticed if he had been messing around with someone, even if it wasn't something serious. Huey shrugged and rubbed the back of his neck, "She goes to Riley's school. Met her downtown last week when I skipped." I nodded my head slowly, it really didn't add up. "Oh really, what's her name?"

"What's it matter what her name is? Huey is stepping out the box now, getting over Kiara." Michael said, finally settling on Spongebob. The doorknob jiggled before the door opened, Riley stomped the snow off of his boots before walking in. He glanced up at us and pulled out an earphone. "The fuck y'all niggas doing in my house?" Then he looked down at the floor while he took his shoes off. "Who shoes is these? Huey I hope you don't got a hoe in the house." I looked down at the shoes and paused for a minute. Those were Jazmine's shoes. I know they were because she had told me specifically that those were her favorite. I mean, it didn't mean anything that they looked like her shoes, right? Cause any chick could be wearing beige ankle boots, any. "Those are Jazmine's shoes."

Huey looked over at them and shook his head, "No they aren't?"

I nodded, "Yes they are." I looked at him and then the shoes and back up at him. Everything was silent except for the TV playing in the background and Michael and Riley were standing right there watching us. "Are you fucking forreal? What, you fucking her now too?" I shouted. Huey laughed and shook his head, "Mind your damn business Hiro."

"Fuck that, Huey! We talked about this shit _this morning_ and the same fucking day you tryna fuck with her? Thought you were supposed to be my best friend? This is bullshit!" I shouted. Huey looked at me and clenched his fists. Riley shook his head and dropped his bag down as me and Huey got closer. "Aye aye aye, nah this not about to go down? Ya niggas buggin', chill the fuck out!" Michael stood up and came in between us with his hands up. "Hold up, this don't have to get any worse than it is. We all men in here, y'all men," Michael said nodding at me and Huey, "Y'all can talk it out. Ain't no need to start nothing that we don't need to."

"That's funny, you know, cause I thought before that _lightskin bitch_ came through a last week ago, we weren't down for all this bullshit." I shouted. Huey shook his head, "Bullshit? Hiro are you really talking about bullshit? You the nigga standing in here yelling. You." I swung a fist at him but Michael grabbed my arms and held me back before he could manage to do anything else.

"Please stop." A voice from the side said quietly. I looked over at Jazmine who was walking out the hallway. "I'm… I'm sorry, okay? You guys have been friends for so long and I came in between that and I shouldn't have. There's no reason to fight, really." She looked between me and Huey and walked over to the door to slip on her shoes. She went to the closet and pulled out her jacket and bags. "But maybe you should think about how strong your friendship really is if something like this could wedge you two apart. Bye Michael, bye Riley." She mumbled softly before walking out the house and closing the door behind her. Huey shook his head and breathed in deeply, "Fuck."

"Okay so, what the fuck is goin' on?" Riley mumbled.

I shook Michael off of me and he stepped back. I clenched my jaw and nodded my head slowly looking at Huey. "Come on Hiro, let's go. No reason to start something up again." I nodded my head again and walked out the door as soon as he said we should go. I could hear Caesar behind me apologizing, saying he would see everyone later, but what the fuck did I care? As long as it was up to me, me and Huey Freeman weren't friends anymore.

 **Thank you to everyone for reviewing and leaving feedback, I take it all into consideration as long as it doesn't conflict with what I've already planned. With that said, all y'all who were calling Jazmine a whore and a slut…. Chill. It really bothers me. She** _ **may**_ **just be a fictional character but slut shaming isn't cool. One point of this story was to show that it's OKAY to be sexual as long as you're safe. Women can be sexual, women can see what and who she wants to be with. But Jaz is young and doesn't know how to do it correctly. If you don't like it just stop reading. Interact though, let me know what you're thinking about the story and my little note above, PM me and we can talk about the story a little deeper.**


	15. Chapter 15

_**I'm sorry that this was so late, I had my wisdom teeth extracted… Then they got infected so I was in too much pain to write. But I hope you guys like this chapter, it's almost 10 pages long and over 5,000 words sooooo… Enjoy! Let me know what you guys think.**_

Update: I have the next four chapters written out, and I'm only going to keep writing! The chapters are long as hell and I think you guys will love them. The next update for With Me will on August 29th and from there on out I'll update EVERY Monday! I'll be sticking to that schedule for the most part (unless something happens). Thank for you reading With Me and for all the reviews and PMs, they motivate me to write even more. 

_Caesar's POV_

I glanced back at Huey and Riley's place, watching Riley shut the door behind him. Hiro was already in the car with his engine on and the music blasting loud enough I could hear it outside the car. I clicked my tongue and shook my head. What a shitstorm that just was. I walked over to the driver's side and tapped on the window, looking down at Hiro who was fuming. His face was red and his nostrils were flared, he was ready for a fight. He glanced at me and cracked open his window. "The hell are you doing? Get in the car Caesar." I shook my head and opened the car door. "Get out, you not driving like The Hulk when I'm in the car. Be damned if I die." I said. He rolled his eyes and got out once I stepped out of his way and went over to the passenger's side. I slid into the driver's seat. "You good man?" I asked him as I turned around the car and started to head towards home. Hiro shook his head slowly. "Nah man, I'm not good. Fuck." I nodded, it didn't take much to get Hiro to start talking. "She was really in his fucking house." He laughed and shook his head again. "What the fuck. He told me 'Oh I respect our friendship so I ain't do nothing'. What a load of shit. Who does that. I ain't even mad at Jazmine. I was done with her ass this morning. I was gonna drop it cause he said that he wasn't gonna try again. Shit, had he kept his word we all coulda been friends and shit. But nah, he gonna go behind my back and do something like that? You said Huey wasn't flaky? Well maybe now he just showing his true fucking colors."

I just listened, I couldn't really defend Huey because what he did was kinda flaky. That didn't make him a flaky person though cause he's came through for everybody for as long as I can remember. So while I didn't really have much to say about Huey and his newfound flakiness, I had a lot to say about the situation but there was always a time and place to voice your opinion and that time wasn't now. I thought all of this was childish. Hiro, Jazmine and Huey should have just sat down somewhere and talked it out all together and got everything out in the open. Then there wouldn't be any mix-ups and any blame games going on. Jazmine didn't have known what Huey and Hiro talked about, Hiro didn't know what Jazmine and Huey talked about, and Huey didn't know what Hiro and Jazmine talked about unless they all talked it out together civilly. Like human beings, or better yet, adults. Was the situation fucked up? Of course. I didn't really think all this drama was worth it for some girl they've known for a week but who was I to judge? When I had first met Ming she didn't even pay me any attention but I kept trying and trying. Had anyone came in between that I probably would have been ready to fight too. "I can't go home."

"Why not?" I asked him. There was never a time where Hiro didn't want to go home. That was pretty much his safe place, especially when his parents were there. "I just don't. I know my mom gonna breathe down my neck, my brothers gonna see something's up and I don't feel like being bothered. I can't deal with it." I nodded again. "Okay, okay. That's cool. I got some bud at home, if you wanna roll up."

"Yeah… Just a little bit, I guess." He shrugged his shoulders. It was really quiet for a little, more quiet than I had wanted it to be at the moment. "I'm fucked man… I like her so much but I just told a bunch of people she sucked my dick. Called her a slut, a bitch. Dammit." He shouted as he slapped his hand on the dashboard. I made a face but kept looking forward. I had heard that going around towards the end of the day and I was pretty surprised when I had heard it. I was pretty sure that she didn't give Hiro top so I was curious about it all day, not really wanting to bring it up. I never felt comfortable asking people what they did sexually with other people. Plus with everyone trying so hard to be petty, it seemed like sexual escapades were as common as the news. I switched lanes and turned into the small apartment complex where I lived. I hoped my parents weren't home, they didn't have a problem with me smoking but didn't like it when I involved friends 'for the fun of it'. I had never brought friends over just to smoke but because my faith taught me that burning cleansed your soul and brought you closer to Jah, so he could guide you in the right direction. Hiro definitely needed some of that even, if he wasn't Rastafarian. I pulled into a parking spot and got out the car, grabbing my backpack from the backseat and grabbing my keys out the front pocket. I checked the parking lot and my parents car wasn't anywhere to be seen. I tossed Hiro his car keys and unlocked the front door to my building before we went up the creaky old steps. Three flights of stairs later we were in front of my door and I grabbed my second key and unlocked the door, letting Hiro in before me. "Damn it's so warm in here." I smiled as I stepped into my house and pulled off my heavy winter jacket. I told Hiro to lock the door and then went to under the kitchen sink to get a baggie of bud and a package of cigarellos.

"Are you sure you want to smoke?" I asked him once we were sitting in my room. I took the nug out of the bag and broke it up on my nightstand before rolling it into the rellos. There were two in the pack and I could easily smoke both of them alone, but I didn't know how much Hiro wanted to smoke. "Want to split?" All he did was nod his head and reach out his hand. I handed him the blunt and a lighter and he sparked up immediately. He handed it back to me and I did the same. A few puffs later and he was visibly relaxed and the tension he was causing went away. I wasn't stressed to begin with, but it did feel nice to spark. I coughed loudly as I held in the smoke. "Wanna know what I think about this mess?"

"Yeah I do."

"I think you and Huey need to stop messing around with Jazmine. Don't get me wrong she may be this… Cool ass chick… But if you and Huey can't fix shit, y'all gonna just throw away a friendship?" I puffed again before talking. "Man, we been friends since before our balls dropped. We bout to be outta high school soon. You and Huey shouldn't be fighting over a chick y'all _just_ met. Maybe they did you ill, but it was just a few days… It wasn't love. Besides Huey been hurting lately ever since Ki messed him up and maybe he need that distraction. I don't think you do. You a good guy man but, you chase a lot of ass. When is something ever long term with you?"

Hiro exhaled the smoke and nodded slowly. "I'm just mad he did me like that… I've never done that to somebody, especially not Huey. I get that maybe he's hurting but why the girl I'm messing with? Like I said, I was gonna see if she wanted to be my girl… Even told my mom. Then bam, all this shit happens." I shook my head at him, hearing the anger in his voice, the bitterness. Anger always turned into bitterness, but how long it took so depended on the person. I didn't hold on to anger, so I was never bitter. Hiro held onto anger and it turned to bitterness immediately. "You gotta let it go man… Gotta let it go." If he didn't it'd ruin him _and_ his friendship with Huey. I hadn't intended on saying this, but it was getting me upset and I just had to say it. Hiro already felt shame for it, but I needed to make sure he really understood what he did."And what you did to Jazmine, it was wrong. It was wrong on so many levels. You lied on her name and that's fucked up. Claim to be so down, wanting to make her your girl and I gotta say, for her sake, I'm glad she ain't do it." My blunt was almost halfway gone and I sighed at the fact. I always enjoyed the relaxing feeling you got from lighting up. "Cause what if she did say yeah to being your girl? You smashed and she sent you freaky things and all that, she pulls what she just did and I bet you would expose her. That would ruin her, all because you're childish. Just how you were childish over something that was a week long. Who wants to deal with that. You can't be a man if you acting like you don't have any sense."

Hiro stood up and shook his head. "Okay, I fucked up but that doesn't make what they did okay either."

"But we're talking about you. Not them. Man, put yourself in her shoes? Maybe it's just cause Ming got to me that I'm thinkin' like this but it makes sense. You can't switch on someone like that, be ready to get in a relationship but expose them for something y'all both wanted. I forgot what Ming said that was… Oh! Slut shaming. You can't slut shame, bruh." I said. Hiro shook his head and handed me the blunt he was smoking. "I think I gotta just deal with everything on my own. I know I was wrong but I don't know man. Damn." He sighed heavily and I put out his blunt in the ashtray so it wouldn't go to waste. "You sure you good to drive?" I asked him. He just nodded. I didn't see much reason in arguing with him, so I got up to walk him out to the door. We dapped each other up and nodded. "Get home safe man. Drive with the windows down." I closed the door and went back to my room, hoping he would actually take the time to think about his actions. Even if all this happened for no reason, he should at least get a lesson out of it.

 _Riley's POV_

"What was all that about?" I asked after I locked the door. I really had no clue about what just went down and I wasn't okay with not knowing. I knew Jazmine and Hiro was fucking around but I had no clue that Jazmine was fucking around with Huey too. I busted out laughing. "Wait wait wait, you mean, y'all fighting over Jazmine?" Then I started laughing even louder. "Wait, so she playing the both of y'all? Daaaaaaaamn." Huey looked at me angrily, but what did I care? He always gave me angry looks. I snorted and shook my head. "Jazmine is good looking and all but you don't fight the homies over no random chick. Everyone knows that nigga!" Jazmine really was fine. I mean already had someone on my mind, so I wasn't interested but I wasn't blind. Good looking was good looking and she fit into that category perfectly. She didn't seem like Huey's type anyways. He always went for the intellectual, down to earth type of girls. Jazmine wasn't stupid but she wasn't like his past girls. She especially didn't compare to Kiara.

Kiara was fine as hell and was book and street smart. Jazmine might be book smart but she knew nothing about being in the streets and surviving like we had to do. That was probably why Huey had fucked with Ki so heavy, because they could relate. Too bad she was a lying, hoe ass bitch. Seeing how she fucked Huey up that bad made me happy I had never fell in love before. "Shut the hell up Riley." Huey went to sit down on the couch. He turned off the TV and leaned back, closing his eyes and I wanted to make a face. I still didn't know what was going on and that bothered me more than anything else. I mean, I knew enough that if Huey was messing with Jazmine it was cause he probably wanted a distraction. He hasn't looked at another girl since Kiara. But if he was fighting over her with Hiro, maybe it was something more. I shook my head quickly. Huey was my big brother, annoying as hell, but I did care about him. I didn't want him dealing with any extra shit if he didn't have to. I wiped the smirk off of my face and walked closer to him. "Yo, Huey… You aight?" He shrugged his shoulders, not bothering to look at me. "I can't do nothing to help if you don't say wassup. At least tell a nigga, cause I'm confused as fuck."

"You just saw it, did you not?" he looked at me out the corner of his eyes.

"Nigga tell me the whole story." I sat down on the recliner and put my feet up. If Granddad caught me in his chair I'd get threatened with an asswhooping. I remember back in the day when his health was good enough that he could whoop my ass whenever he pleased, now he couldn't do nothing without taking a break every few moments. I shook the thoughts of my granddad out of my head and turned back to the matter at hand. Huey sighed and looked defeated. "I mean, what else is there to say. Hiro wanted to fight over her cause I started messing with her." He shrugged again, as if he didn't even care what just happened. "Bruh stop acting tough, you always talking bout that hypermasculinity bullshit. Are you just messing with Jaz or are you feeling her?"

"I like her. She's cool." Was all he said. I rolled my eyes and tried not to make a face at him. This nigga really was pushing my patience cause if he wasn't my brother I would've gave up trying to get anything out of him at this point. "Okay… so, you like her as a distraction or as somethin' more?"

"I wanted to get to know her- I _want_ to get to know her. That first day we met, when Cindy brought her over I was just like 'whatever' and then we talked and she was cute and could wanted to listen to me rant about the food industry. We've got a few of the same views and hobbies. Plus she made me stop thinking about Kiara. I just wanted to be around her more no matter what it turned into."

I nodded and we sat in silence for a little. Huey never wanted to 'get to know' anybody. He was like an old ass man set in his ways. Like a younger version of Granddad. "But Hiro is your boy. So wassup with that. Cause us Freeman's aren't flaky ass niggas and you not gonna go around messing up our name. It's gon' look bad on me. Next thing you know, bitches don't wanna mess with Reezy and my niggas gonna think they can flake on me. I don't need to deal with that shit."

"I said I was going to fall back this morning but I couldn't help it. Riley you don't get it man…" He shook his head. "Ever since… Kiara… I've felt like I was empty or something. Like I was missing something really important. I love her. I really fucking love her. But I know there isn't a me and her anymore, there can't be. After the initial shock that she was pregnant, I was happy as hell. Willing to do whatever for her and for who was supposed to be our child. And she strung me along for nine months… longer than that actually. I've been looking for something to fill that space since she left. Here I was thinking I'd probably never have that again and I'd always be a little empty. Then I see Jazmine and talk to her and for the first time in months, I'm interested in a girl again." I bit back the chance to call him gay and nodded my head. He had told me all this before. How Kiara left a void in him and it made sense to me. He was expecting to start a family with the girl he was in love with and it was all violently ripped away from him just like that. Huey had always been mature but he had grown a lot in those nine months, getting ready to provide for Kiara and the baby. Always reminded me to wrap it up and not fall in love.

"I mean, Jazmine isn't Kiara, but I don't want her to be. I wanna get to know Jazmine for who she is. And maybe I should have just sat down with Hiro and explained myself, but I know he's not serious about her. He hasn't kept a steady relationship for all but three times in all these years that I've known him. Besides, he was calling her a slut, saying she sucked his dick."

"Did she suck his dick?"

"Wha- Riley! No." he paused. "I don't think so."

I snickered. "You let Jazmine hear all that shit Hiro said about her. You gonna talk to her, see wassup?"

"No. I don't really know how to approach it. Everything happened really fast, and I wasn't expecting any of it. She probably doesn't even want to talk to me."

"I can go talk to her for you." I said. I wasn't super close to Jazmine, but we had talked enough to be cool. We texted each other every now and then. The three of us; me, her and Cindy, had a group chat too. It also helped that Cindy was my nigga, so Jazmine had more reason to trust me. Besides, I loved gossip just as much as the next person. I wasn't the one to spread it, but I loved hearing that shit.

"No thanks." Huey deadpanned and stood up to walk away from me. "Appreciate it though, but you'd just mess everything up."

"No I wouldn't, the hell are you talking about?" I sucked my teeth. "Me and Jazmine cool. I swear. I'ma just hear her out and come back and tell you what she say? Then you can know what she thinking. Play it smooth though, so she don't think I came and told you." I smiled at my plan and looked at my brother. He was obviously thinking about if he should say yes or no. Another moment later and he nodded his head. I laughed, "Alright nigga I got you. Be grateful I'ma good wingman."

He ignored me and went into his room while I went to put my timbs back on and my jacket before heading across the street to Jazmine's place. I really was a great brother, cause what I wanted to do was get home from school, play my video games and then take a nap. But here I was, heading over to fix a problem that didn't even involve me.

 _Jazmine's POV_

As soon as I closed to the Freeman's front door, I ran to my house, almost slipping on a patch of ice. I took note of my mom's car in the driveway and shook my head. I'd be in trouble if she went out of her way to leave work early and come pick me up from school when I wasn't even there. I was so caught up with Huey that I hadn't even paid any attention to my phone and by the time I had checked it, it was too late. I unlocked the door and walked in slowly, kicking off my shoes carelessly. "Jazmine DuBois." was the first thing I heard as soon as I closed the door.

"Yes mom?" I said sheepishly as I walked over to her in the living room. I put my bag down and the look on her face told me she was annoyed. "Where were you? Because I recall you asking me to pick you up from school at 3:30. Right? And then I'm calling and texting you, asking you where you're at and I get no answer from you. I waited at the school for twenty five minutes before driving back home and you weren't here, either. So I'll ask again, where were you?"

"I, uh," I decided that telling a lie wouldn't help my situation out one bit. "I skipped."

"Excuse me?" she narrowed her eyes at me. "Have you lost your damn mind, Jazmine? Your father and I taught you better than that." She yelled at me, shaking her head quickly back and forth. "Who'd you skip with, Jazmine?"

"Cindy. We just went out to eat some food downtown and then I went to her house, then we went over to Huey and Riley's place to hang out for awhile." I mumbled. I deserved to get yelled at, I knew better than to skip the whole day at school. No doubt I'd get in trouble tomorrow yesterday too, because I never went to the Dean's in the first place and I knew Ms. Gold was the teacher who called to make sure you got to where she sent you. "I'm sorry mom."

And before I knew it I had tears streaming down my face. It was probably because I was getting yelled at, I was always sensitive to things like that. But I knew it was mostly because I was thinking about how shitty my day really was. Tomorrow I'd be the talk of the school, Hiro thought even worse of me, I had caused a rift in a ten year friendship, Huey was being… whatever he was being. I didn't know how to deal with it and I didn't want to even try to deal with it. My mom stood up, the anger washing off her face and being replaced with concern. "What's wrong sweetie?" She wrapped her arms around me and I cried into her shoulder, shaking my head. "I messed up mommy." She pulled me away from her to look at me before pulling me back into her embrace. She shushed me quietly and patted my back, letting me get everything out. I don't know how long I cried for but by the time I had finished I had a headache, my eyes were sore and my nose was stopped up beyond relief. She pulled me to sit down on the couch with her and looked at me. "What's going on Jazmine?"

"You can't tell Daddy," I mumbled, looking everywhere except at her.

"Of course not, hun." She nodded and I sighed heavily diving into the whole story. I told her how I had met Hiro and Huey on the first day and how Hiro was so sweet and kind. How he took me out to eat and he was the boy I was mainly hanging out with last week. Of course I left out anything sexual. I told her how even though Hiro was nice and liked him, I liked Huey too. I liked how mysterious Huey was and how he we clicked in this really weird, unusual way. Then I told her how they were fighting because of me, and how Hiro had slandered my name in school saying that I had gave him oral when I hadn't done anything like that to him. By the end of my explanation the look on her face was one of anger again.

"How dare he think he can get away with something like that!" She shouted. I shook my head, and grabbed her shoulders. "Mom, it's fine… Really. It just happens now. I messed with the wrong person."

"No way, nuh uh. Not when your father is a lawyer and has his connections. I'm going to call the school board and we are going to handle this immediately before it goes any farther!" My mom shook her head and I had to stop her from pulling out her phone. "Mom it's fine! Really."

"Jazmine stuff like this is why some girls end up committing suicide! I know how cruel your peers can be, and I don't want that to happen to you."

"I'll be fine. I'll tell you everything that happens from now on, I promise." I said quickly. "Just don't blow this up bigger than it has to be?" I pleaded with her until she nodded her head. I sighed heavily and hugged her tightly. "I'll let you know every detail."

"Fine. But only on that condition Jazmine and nothing less." She sighed heavily and was about to say something else when the doorbell rang. I gave her a look and she shrugged her shoulders. I got up to answer the door, shaking my head when I opened the door only to see Riley standing at my door with a smile on his face. "Can I come in? It's cold as hell out here." I nodded my head quickly and stepped aside to let him in, closing the door behind him. He took off his boot at the carpet and looked over at my mom.

"Uh mom, this is Riley. Riley, this is my mom." They waved at each other and my mom stood up.

"Well, I'm gonna go pick up some Chinese food? The usual?" I nodded at her, grateful that she would give me and Riley a while to talk. She most likely put two and two together since I did explain that he was Huey's brother. At least she didn't have to worry about me doing something with him in her house. I waved goodbye to her sheepishly as she left the house. I turned to look at Riley. "Why are you here?"

"Woah," he put his hands up, "Feisty one aren't you. I came to talk to you, is all."

"Why?" I asked. I thought Riley was alright and I didn't have a problem with him, but I don't know what he expected me to say to him. I knew he was probably here on Huey's behalf but if Huey wanted to talk to me, he needed to not send his brother in his place and see me in person. "You're here for Huey, huh?"

"Well yeah, but it ain't like you don't mean nothin' to me. I heard what Hiro was callin' you and shit. You good?" He sat down at the kitchen table, looking around my house. I sat down across from him and shrugged my shoulders. He sucked his teeth. "You do know, don't play that with me Jaz. Look, I'ma tell you since my brother is a pussy. Huey really like you. Trust me, I know. I don't know if you feeling him heavy but that's really how he feels." He paused for a minute before looking at me. "And me and Hiro not tight like that, so just know I'll kick his ass for calling you out your name."

I smiled and tried my best not to laugh. "Really?" I nodded his head. "Yeah, really. I mean, Cindy would make me do it anyway. She never really messed with him like that anyways. Besides, you her best friend. I gotta fight for you by default." Riley got up and walked to the other side of the table and gave me a hug. It was short but I got the message. We had only known each other for a short period of time but he was on my side, and not only because of his brother or because of Cindy, but because of me. He was abrasive, just as bad as Huey was, but he had a heart of gold. I could tell. "Thanks Riley," I mumbled as I pulled him back into another hug.

"Alright alright, I ain't for all this mushy stuff." He mumbled, but didn't pull away until I did. "But tell me wassup? Cause Huey kinda told me but he doesn't know the whole story."

I shrugged my shoulders. "There really isn't much to it… I mean, I was messing around with Hiro first and even though it was nice, that's all it was. It was fun but I felt closer to Huey. I wasn't about to string them both along so I told Hiro the truth. And I told him in the first place I wasn't looking for anything serious and he seemed perfectly okay with that at the time. So the fact that he would even be so petty and throw dirt on my name upsets me."

"Yeah… I get you." Riley said. "You want my opinion on all this shit?" I nodded my head. "Forget about Hiro and if you really feeling my brother, give him a chance. Don't tell nobody I said this, but his ex really messed him up. And these past few months, dealing with her and then Granddad's health issues, it's worn his ass out. I ain't saying you're some rebound or somethin' to pass the time; he told me himself he was feelin' you. But you never know what it could turn out to be between y'all."

"Your Granddad is having health issues?" I had heard everything else but that's what had stood out to me the most. Riley nodded and a distant look came onto his face. "Yeah, he's got diabetes. It's really bad, he's always at dialysis and shit… and he's been on the transplant list for two years now… started off with one kidney, then both. Now along with that he having heart issues, I don't even know how the two even go together…" He trailed off.

"Oh, wow… I'm sorry. I didn't know any of that." I mumbled. It was obvious that this was something that upset him so I changed the topic. "Thanks for coming over to talk to me. I appreciate it."

"No problem Jaz." he nudged my shoulder and we laughed. "I got your back. And if you and Huey end up together, you gonna be my sister. And nobody is gonna fuck with you if I got somethin' to say about it."

"I'm gonna hold you to your word." I rolled my eyes. Riley sucked his teeth, "I keep it one hunnid, don't try and play me. But… I'ma get going now. Text me if you need something, I got you. Alright?"

"Alright." I nodded my head and got up to walk Riley to the door. He put on his jacket and shoes and we said bye to each other. When he was halfway across the street I yelled out to him, "Tell Huey I'm not mad at him!" and he gave me a thumbs up before he got into the house.


	16. Chapter 16

_Huey's POV_

 **Sooooo, I wasn't planning on updating but I had to! I'm so proud of this chapter lol. Also, I know some of y'all are tired of the day to day, but everything that's been happening has been in the moment, a few more chapters and then chapters won't be day to day but then I'll be wrapping up the story. Anyways, enjoy! Thank you for the reviews and faves/follows I appreciate them!**

I wouldn't have admitted it to anyone but myself, but I was on edge for the whole half hour that Riley was across the street at Jazmine's and it only got worse when I heard him come back in the house. I went back and forth between thinking about where I went wrong in dealing with this situation and if Jazmine was mad at me. Her words kept replaying in my head. ' _But maybe you should think about how strong your friendship really is if something like this could wedge you two apart.'_ Every word rang true. I've known Hiro since I moved here from Chicago, we knew each other like the back of our hands. Yet one girl comes around and suddenly we don't know how to act, scratch that, _I_ don't know how to act. I shook my head and grabbed my pick off my nightstand and started to run it through my hair. I should've just told him what my intentions were in the first place, maybe it would have led to some harsh feelings, but at least in the end I would have been truthful. Riley came walking down the hallway and into my room loudly, a smile on his face. "Guess what nigga, she's not mad at you."

"I heard her yell it." I said softly.

"Yeah yeah, but anyways I told her what was up and she told me. I think you got another shot with her. Just squash the lil beef you got with Hiro and you in." he was about to leave when he turned back around, "Oh and let Hiro know if he say something slick about Jaz again he's gon have beef with me." I nodded my head and watched him as he left my room, not bothering to close the door behind him. I rolled my eyes and got up to close it.

Tonight was going to be a long night, I could already tell. I wanted to fix things up with Hiro, and call Jasmine just to make sure that Riley didn't do anything stupid. Before I did any of that though, I needed to call Michael and get his opinion on everything. He and I thought very similarly and talking to him always helped me figure things out when everything got too complicated for me to handle on my own. It always helped that he never beat around the bush. I pulled my phone off the charger and pulled up our conversation. _Hey man, you busy now?_

He replied five minutes later: _w Ming, call you when she leaves? Unless you don't care about her input._

I thought about it for a minute. I didn't have a problem with Ming, she was smart and didn't annoy me which was enough for me to put up with being around her. I really wish that me and him could talk face to face but I guess the phone would do. I didn't have my Granddad's car and he didn't have one at all. Even though I thought highly of Ming, I didn't want her in my business if I could help it. I texted him back, _Nah its cool spend your time with your girl. Hit me up when you're free._ He responded immediately telling me it'd only be a few hours. I glanced at the time and sighed. It wasn't even six yet. I wasn't going to call Hiro until after I talked to Michael so I dialed Jazmine's number next and she picked up after the third ring. "Hello?"

"Hey." I said awkwardly. "Are you okay?"

She was quiet for a moment and I almost asked her again. "Sorry, I was finishing off my spring roll. I'm fine, thanks for asking. Hold on." I heard her excuse herself from what I assumed would be dinner.

"If you're eating I can wait."

"No, I was just finishing up, really. But thanks for checking up on me. Riley cleared a few things up for me and… he told me you liked me. I like you too Huey, and if you'd like, we can try again. The right way." she paused. "I wanna talk everything out with Hiro, kinda get everything out in the open just so there's no misunderstandings. I'd be happy if you could be there for me. Oh! Also, we can go as slow as you want. Maybe we should start from the beginning again too?" I could hear the smile in her voice as she spoke, and it brought a smirk to my face.

I nodded my head, "Yeah, those are good ideas. Start all over again and clear the air with Hiro. I'd appreciate that too, taking it slow. I was worried Riley went over and said something stupid but I guess he didn't."

She giggled, "You should have a bit more faith in your brother." I nodded again but when I realized that she couldn't see me do so and said yeah, softly. I was always one for words but at the same time I wasn't. Dealing with relationships wasn't the same as being an activist. "Anyways, I want to talk to Hiro alone, and I guess you might want to, too. But after that we can all talk together. I'll probably talk to him at lunch tomorrow since I'll be able to find him."

"Sounds like a good idea. Tell me how it goes in Smith's class?"

"Of course." she paused, "Hey Huey, I have a question… If you don't mind."

"What is it?"

"When we kissed earlier, you kinda just withdrew from me afterwards. I was just wondering why. I mean… I had just, you know… so I didn't think a kiss would be too much." She said hesitantly. I sighed softly. "Sorry about that. I just didn't know how to react. I liked it, I liked all of today but the kiss kind of caught me off guard." That was the truth. The high after the orgasm usually had anyone feeling like they were in love momentarily. And Jazmine had been so, unexpectedly kinky, that I was wishing the experience would never end. So while I was expecting the 'shock' that came with an orgasm, I wasn't expecting the one that came with kissing her. It wasn't the same as the first time we kissed. It sent my heart into a beating frenzy and it made my palms sweaty. I licked my bottom lip as I pictured her lips in my mind. Soft and pink, her bottom lip slightly fuller than her upper lip. "A good kind of off guard or…?"

"No, no it was a good kind of off guard." I said quickly. We were both silent for a few moments. I'm sure Jazmine had something to say, she always did, so it was weird that she wasn't the one talking. Like I said, I wasn't much for words when it came to emotions and relationships and if I was being honest I loved listening to her talk, just to hear her voice. "Is everything okay?"

"Riley told me about your granddad. Is he going to be okay?" She asked softly. I froze up for a minute before reminding myself to relax. I knew my granddad's health was going down the drain but it wasn't something I acknowledged often. Now that I thought about it, neither did Riley or Granddad. All of us acted like everything was okay, just like it was when we first moved in with him ten years ago. He had caught his diabetes too late because of his dislike for doctors and by the time he found out the damage was already done. We had rushed him to the ER one night only to find out that one of his kidney's were failing and the other one was severely damaged. He was always at dialysis but we were trying to get the funds to hook something up over here so he could be home more often. Ever since then we've only dealt with the situation unless we needed to and went about our business. "I think that he'll be fine." I cared deeply for my Granddad, but he was an old man with bad kidneys and a plethora of other health problems. Somethings just couldn't be helped.

"Sorry I asked, it's just that Riley looked really bothered when it was brought up and… it just made me wonder if Robert was doing okay."

"He's fine. I just wish he would have kept up with his health, then maybe he stay be with us a bit longer." I sighed softly, laying back on my bed.

"Alright, well… I'm always here if you need me?" Jazmine said hopefully. "My uncle had diabetes and he took too long trying to deal with it and passed, it was really hard to deal with. So at least I'll be able to understand where you're coming from. But I'm gonna go now. I have to get ready for school tomorrow. See you then?"

"Yeah," I nodded, "Night."

"Night Huey. Text me later?" She said quickly. I told her I would after I got off the phone with Caesar and hung up. With nothing to do and not feeling up for reading or watching anything, I went through my phone. Not that there was much to go through in the first place. Jazmine was the first person in my inbox, then Riley, Michael, Hiro, my weed man, some people from school, asking for notes or worksheets when I missed class, and then Kiara. She texted me every few weeks, asking to explain herself or asking if we could meet up to 'talk things out' in her words exactly. It made me sick to my stomach to think she thought talking things out was enough to sort out what she did to me. Everytime she texted me I was always so tempted to tell her yes. The optimistic side of me thought that maybe everything could be patched up and we could have a brand new start. The pessimist in me said that was a load of crap and there wasn't a snowball's chance in hell that anything would ever be okay between me and her even if I forgave her. I tended to be more of a realist, but in this case I didn't know what option I would choose if it ever came down to it. Maybe eventually we could talk it out, once it didn't hurt as bad and I moved on from what used to be. It was a slow but steady process, deleting her from my life.

When everything had first went down, everyone told her to just delete anything and everything of hers off my phone, throw away whatever she had left here, to get rid of any gifts. To block her number and mark it as spam. But it was just too abrupt for me, even when I was angry and in pain. Everything that was _us_ was ripped from me already, why did I have to go through more pain deleting things from my side? So I kept it all; messages, voicemails, pictures, old gifts and letters, getting rid of them one by one. I was okay with getting rid of everything, four years worth of memories, slowly. Then one day I came home from school and the box that had all of those items in it was empty. I knew it was Riley who did it. He had told me to get rid of everything multiple times and that I was just prolonging the pain when everything was already over. I ended up punching him in his chest that night and we had got into a fight before Granddad came hobbling into the room and telling us to sit our black asses down.

All though now that I look back at it, he did mean right by it and it helped me start get over her quicker.

I sighed and closed my eyes, letting the memories flood in like they usually did whenever I thought of Kiara.

" _Huey?" she asked softly in between deep breaths. I sighed and rolled over to face her. "Mhm?"_

" _That was really, really good." She giggled lightly. I smirked at her, taking in her beauty. Soft skin that resembled the color of toffee, full breasts and round hips. My eyes trailed up and down her bare body before making their way to her face. I had thought she was beautiful from the first time I saw her; and that was the only way I could describe her. There was this interesting, natural look to her that just called to me. From her full lips to her broad nose. The way her eyebrows were well kept but never perfect. Even the few scars and bumps she had on her face complimented her in everyway._

" _Can you believe how long we've been together?" Kiara said in between kisses. I wrapped my arm around her waist and pulled her closer to me, deepening the kiss. There was something about her that was so irresistible, something that drawed the passion out of me. When we finally separated and smiled and held up three fingers in front of her face. She smiled so brightly and it made my heart soar in my chest. I laughed and tapped the small gap in between her front teeth. She was always so insecure about it but I didn't see anything wrong with it._

" _Huey don't do that!" She smacked my hand away playfully, a pout adorning her face. "Hmph. So, what should we do for our three year anniversary? I already got you your present but I know how you can get. Wanna do something big or something laid back?"_

" _I'm surprised you're giving me the choice." I rolled my eyes, grabbing her hand and locking our fingers together. I pulled her even closer to me, our bare bodies rubbing against each other. I sighed softly and shrugged. "Either one is fine with me. But since you're asking, why don't we not go over the top this year?"_

 _She nodded quickly, "I think I can do that. Just remind me not to go overboard every now and then, mkay?"_

 _I chuckled, shaking my head as I kissed her forehead. "Alright Ki."_

"Huey! Riley! Get y'all asses in here, I picked up dinner." Granddad shouted from the living room. Riley was already walking down the hallway by the time I started to get up from my room. I walked down the hall to see Riley grabbing the bags of food from my Granddad and helping him walk across the living room and into the kitchen. He had already been stuck with a bad leg before, but the type of dialysis he did would sometimes give him painful leg cramps, making it even harder to walk. I walked past them - Granddad sitting down at the table and Riley opening the food - and grabbed three plates from the cupboard and set them on the table. "What'd you get?" I asked him, looking down at the containers.

"The nurses at the hospital were talking about this Thai place and they said I should check it out. Good thing they had vegetarian or I woulda had to go somewhere else." he paused and rubbed his chest a little, wheezing quietly. "Ooooh-oh my chest is tight, get me a glass of water boy." I had no idea who he was talking to so I got up and grabbed a cup from the cabinet and filled it with ice and water before sitting down. Riley got the forks and I ended up getting back up to grab a drink. Once everything was situated we started to eat. "Have you talked to insurance about getting the peritoneal dialysis set up here? It'd be better than you being stuck in a chair for four hours most of the week." I took a bite of my veggie pad thai. It really was good, I'd have to keep the menu so that I could order from the place in the future. I always had to keep a lookout for places with good vegetarian options.

Granddad slurped up his noodles messily before looking up at me and Riley. "I'm not gonna talk to insurance about it anymore."

"What? Why not?" Riley said abruptly, holding his fork full of food midair. Granddad chuckled softly and shook his head, a sad look coming on his face. He took another sip of his water. "I'm gonna be eighty this year, how much more time do I have left? And insurance is expensive, I'd rather just leave any money that I can to y'all two."

"Don't talk like that Granddad." Riley said, shoving food in his mouth. His fist was clenched on the table and you could see the sadness and anger in his eyes. "You ain't gonna die, so stop talking like that."

I nodded my head slowly, not really in agreement to anything but just listening to what was going on. I never had much to say when discussions like this went on. Of course I felt the same as Riley, but my Granddad was being practical. I had to be practical. If he died tomorrow then I'd have to deal with everything, and in order to do that you can't always let your emotions get in the way. He _was_ old. Not everyone lived to eighty, especially with bad kidneys. Yet he soldiered through it and dealt with it for the sake of me and my brother and probably because he was too stubborn to die. He had only started talking about his death at the beginning of this year, which was only last month. He told me he'd 'try' to push through another two years, just so that I wouldn't have to deal with Riley being a minor. He said that if he died, everything was left to me and any money that he had, from social security, life insurance and any pensions would be given to me, but split in half with Riley as soon as he turned 18. I was glad that he had matured, even if he was still immature. It would have been hell trying to make him not spend all his money. My Granddad also told me to keep a few mementos of him and then sell anything we didn't need in the house and use that to move into a smaller, more affordable apartment. When I thought about that on my own, that meant our beds, the couch, the tv, maybe one of our desks and our laptops. We'd keep any plates and silverware. Most likely my bookshelf and whatever was in the closets. Everything else would be sold, along with the money from selling the house.

"Boy don't be an idiot." my granddad snapped, "It's _gonna_ happen so get your head out your ass and get prepared so you aren't struggling afterwards." his voice softened after that. "I ain't leavin' without a fight but you gotta get prepared."

After that we ate in silence for a few moments. We had never gone so far as to address everything together, as a family and I doubted that he and Riley had talked about it at all. Riley was always more sensitive when it came to Granddad than he was anything else.

Riley was the first to break the silence, "You know Huey and Hiro was about to throw hands?" he snickered. I glared at him, knowing I'd have to explain why now. For all that Granddad knew, I wasn't even friends with the girl across the street so it'd be a long story.

"What the hell happened?" he asked, a smirk on his face as he started to eat again. So that was how the rest of our night went, me telling the whole story with interruptions from Riley and Granddad. It was nice honestly, we all laughed and enjoyed our time together. I guess it helped that my dad loved gossip as much as the next person. I just knew that he was going to go tell his nurses this tomorrow.

Once we were done eating, I put all the food away and Granddad made Riley wash up the dishes. Granddad made his way to his recliner and turned on the tv, though I knew it wouldn't last long. It was nearing eight o'clock and he was usually sleep by nine. I said my goodnight, knowing I'd probably be in my room for the rest of my night. I checked my phone, only having a message from Jazmine and Michael, who said he was free to call me after he talked to his parents about something important. He sent that a good thirty minutes ago, so I grabbed some clothes to get dressed after my shower and headed to the bathroom. Twenty minutes later I was back in my room, rubbing lotion on and putting on my socks when my phone started ringing. I shut my door and answered it, sitting down on my bed.

"Wassup man?" Caesar asked in his usual laid-back tone. "This week has been a rollercoaster, huh?"

"It has. It's not like I planned for it to be like that though, I just… Did what felt right and that was getting to know Jazmine."

"Hiro's pretty ticked off. Said he was gonna make her his girlfriend and everything."

"He has every right to be mad and I can't take that idea serious. He's my man but he doesn't know what a steady relationship is." I said, sighing heavily and laying down on my back. "I wanna fix things though. Jazmine said she'd talk to him herself, and that all of us could talk it out after we both talked to him separately. Clear the air and all. Does that sound like a good idea to you?" There was a short pause while he thought it over. "It's a good idea, but don't do it back to back. Any of it. You should give him some time to process all of it and do the group talk last."

I nodded, "Yeah, that makes sense. Jazmine said she'd talk to him tomorrow, so I guess I'll wait a few days." I made a note to bring up the suggestion to Jazmine, just so she wasn't out of the loop. We didn't need anymore mixups. Caesar cleared his throat, "That works. He may really be feeling her right now but in hindsight I think he knows it's not that serious. Pretty sure he's more upset so went behind his back, so tell me what that was all about? You loyal to the bone so I gotta say… It was really unexpected. Made it hard for me to stand up for you."

"I mean, honestly Ceez, I don't know." I paused, looking for the words to say. "Can you imagine losing Ming the way I lost Kiara, and just feeling empty for months and months on end? Then you meet someone that makes you think of Ming a little less and makes you feel like you don't _have_ to be empty. What would you do? When that was your first glimpse at being whole again in months? I only did it cause I know Hiro, I didn't think it'd be so heavy. But I saw the opportunity and I wasn't going to just let it slip by." I shook my head, "Look, I know it wasn't right. I could have went about it a different way, that's why I want to actually talk about it."

"Alright man… I know shit happens sometimes. It's life. I'd be so fucked up without Ming at this point so I think I can empathise with you. That's something Hiro can't really do, but I know he could try. So definitely talk it out, do what you gotta do. I hope this sorts itself out and we don't mess up this long ass friendship."

"Me too. But, me and Jazmine are gonna give it another go. Do you think we should?" I asked. I appreciated Caesar's opinion, no matter how laid-back and how much of a jokester he was, he always said the right thing. "I think you should do what you think you gotta do. Hiro is gonna understand eventually, he always does. We boys for a reason." I thanked him, deciding to change the subject and act how he was doing. He was such a low-key person that if you didn't ask or he didn't tell you, what he was doing was a secret. I usually knew everything but I had been preoccupied these past few months that I really only paid attention to myself.

We talked for a good forty five minutes, about his relationship and how his parents were doing, we caught up on some politics and what had been going on in the news lately. It was nice, to talk to one of my best friends again and I felt selfish for pretty much ditching them to get over a breakup when I probably should have hung out with them more. But even though I was selfish, months later everything was the same. There was no finding a friendship like ours, even if we had some slip ups. By the time we hung up, it was a little after nine. I wasn't tired but I didn't have any homework today because I skipped school. So I ended up watching some more TV and of course, I texted Jazmine like I said I would.

We talked about nothing in particular for a couple of hours when I heard a loud thud on the floor. I didn't think much of it, thinking that it was Riley doing something stupid or falling and busting his ass. Then I heard Riley shout my name with a sense of urgency that gave me goosebumps. I jumped up, running into his room and not seeing him in there, then seeing that my granddad's door was wide open. "Huey!" he shouted again. I ran into my granddad's room, seeing Riley leaning over him on the floor. So that was the thud? But… Why was Riley just sitting there and why wasn't he getting back up? Why wasn't he saying anything? "Don't just fucking stand there, call the fucking ambulance!" He snapped at me. I looked down at my phone and exited out of my messages, dialing 911. In the small lapse of silence, I could hear my granddad on the floor, wheezing, "I… can't… breathe…" over and over again. Riley yelled at him to keep talking, to say anything because as long as he was talking he had breath.

It felt like the ringing was coming from another place and not my phone. I felt dizzy. The voice on the other end of the phone snapped me out of my trance. "911, what's your emergency?"

"My granddad can't breathe. He's a diabetic and he was wheezing earlier."

"Okay, can you give me your address so I can send the EMTs to your location?" I nodded even though she couldn't see me, telling her our address. She asked me to tell her the number I was calling from, twice to verify it.

"Alright, can you tell me exactly what happened? How old is your grandfather?" she said, keeping a calm and steady voice.

"I don't know, I heard a thud and then a few minutes later my brother yelled my name. I came in and my granddad was on the floor gasping for breath. He's seventy nine years old." It couldn't have even been a minute that passed but it felt like forever. Granddad was still laying on floor, gasping for breath in between words and Riley fumbled around, not really knowing what to do. "An ambulance is headed your way right now. Do you or your brother know how to do CPR?" I told her yes and she told me to start immediately. I gave the phone to my brother and told him to go stand by the door so the paramedics could come in quickly and easily.

I don't know why I didn't make Riley called 911 so I could start doing CPR. Even two minutes could mean life or death. I cursed at myself at the same time I got into position. Hands on top of one another in the middle of the chest. I started to press up and down on his chest, remembering to put my body weight into the action. Thirty chest compressions, tilt his head and chin, open the airway, close the nostrils, start mouth to mouth breathing. I gave the first rescue breath and when I saw his chest rise, I gave the second one. Repeat from the beginning.

Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat.

I could finally hear sirens in the distance and even though my arms were getting tired out from the motion, I kept going.

Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat.

I kept going until the EMTs pulled me away to get my grandad on the stretcher. I stood in the hallway as I watched them carry him into the ambulance. Immediately, I went back into his room to grab the keys for Dorothy and went into the living room to put on my shoes and my jacket. "Come on Riley, the ambulance said Trinitas on it. We gotta go." He nodded, pulling on his shoes and jacket. I locked up the house and headed to the driveway. Some of our neighbors were standing out on their lawn, but most were staring out their window trying to see what was going on. Riley handed me my phone and I saw Jazmine run across the street in what looked like her pajamas.

"Oh my god, Huey what happened?"

"He couldn't breath." I said quietly. I had already told her earlier about our family discussion from that night and how he was wheezing the whole time. She hugged me tightly and quickly, not giving me enough time to hug back. "Get there safely. Keep me updated, and I'll drive over there if you need me too. Okay?" I nodded and she ran back into her house and I got into the car, pulling out of the driveway and speeding my way to the hospital. I prayed to whatever God there may be that my grandfather wouldn't die.

By the time we got to the hospital and into the ER, they had told us Granddad had been admitted and was being treated accordingly. We would know what was happening as soon as possible. So we sat down in the emergency room waiting area in silence, not sure of what to say. I pondered on what exactly was going on. I had read and watched enough to know basic procedures but nothing more. I didn't know what exactly was going on either, so I didn't know how they were dealing with it. He couldn't breathe, although that could have meant anything. I didn't know if it was the diabetes or any of his other health related issues. Anything was possible and it would be a guessing game until a doctor came out to tell us.

I heard Riley sniffle and wipe his eyes once before sitting up straight. He shook his head, "He shoulda never said anything 'bout him dying. You speak it and you put it out into the world."

"Riley, he's almost eighty. He can't act like he's our age and that nothing is wrong with him."

"Yeah but if he didn't saying anything, none of this would have happened!" Riley snapped at me. Several people looked over at us as well as the cop who was walking in and out the ER entrance. Riley grit his teeth and got up, walking outside without another word. I shook my head slowly and put my face in my hands. The small grip of control I had was slowly slipping away. I didn't want him to die. I didn't want him to die. He had to be okay.

He had to be okay. I don't know how long I sat there, telling myself that he had to be okay but the moments slipped past me quickly. It felt like I was slipping away again, like I was being grounded by a thin strand of string that was getting ready to snap. I would fly away into the sky any moment now. Everything I had put into coming back to earth and now this. Nothing could get any worse than this moment right now. Or so I thought.

"...Huey?" a familiar voice called my name hesitantly. A voice that I'd probably never forget. I glanced up only to see Kiara standing in front of me, her baby on her hip and a look I couldn't understand adorning her face. "I knew it was you. I'd recognize that afro anywhere."

 **I had to do the cliff hanger, sorry y'all. How do you guys like these chapter lengths? This and the last chapter was 10 pages which is double the usual length. The next few chapters I have typed out are about ten pages too. :)**


	17. Chapter 17

**This update is supposed to be Monday's update, but I won't have internet access then. I figured a day earlier is better than a date late. Enjoy!**

"Kiara?" I said slowly. I hadn't seen her in months, and here she was, right in front of me. It felt unreal, seeing her again. Now I know why I felt so hesitant to text her back and say yes, because the flood of emotions was something that I thought I could handle and I right now I was proving myself wrong. She looked around awkwardly before sitting down in the seat next to me, where Riley was sitting before he left. I sighed softly and turned to look at her. Her son was right there. She was right there. Everything that could have been mine was right in front of me, kicking me violently in the face. "Why're you here?" she asked softly. Her baby, Andre started to cry and she bounced him in her lap shushing him quietly. I tried not to look at him, but I couldn't help it. I couldn't help but imagine that maybe if he were a few shades darker, his hair a little thicker and his eyes any shade of brown instead of green, I could have still been with Kiara. Andre could have been my son. I couldn't bring myself to say anything, like the words didn't know how to come out my mouth. She must have sensed that and decided to carry on the conversation on her own. "I guess it's because of Robert, hm? Cause I'm pretty sure I saw Riley walk out the front door."

I wondered why I hadn't seen her before I remembered that the ER waiting room was split into two and you couldn't really see the other side. How she saw me, I have no idea, but I was wishing that she would have minded her business and stayed on her side of the room. How she even had the audacity to even walk up to me and ask me shit like everything was okay made me angry. "What the hell are you doing over here?" I snapped in the quietest tone I could possible.

She jumped back, her face contorting at me angrily. "The hell is your problem, Huey? I'm trying to be cordial."

I grit my teeth. "Be cordial? Are you serious? Like are you fucking for real, Kiara?" I said, my voice getting louder with every word. "Be cordial and act like you didn't fuck me over for who knows how got damn long?!" One part of me wanted to keep on going, yelling and shouting at her the words I always wanted to say. I didn't give a damn if anyone thought I was acting ignorsant. The other part of me knew better though. What good would I do anyone getting tossed out for an argument? Even though I knew I shouldn't have continued, I did. "So fuck you. Fuck you for coming over here and fuck you for wanting to be in my face and act cordial."

Everyone was staring at me and the cop who was walking in and out of the hospital and ER came over to me. "Is there a problem?"

I glared at him, ready to snap at him too. Like he was going to do anything with a damn baton, I'd kick his ass in a heartbeat. Kiara stood up, shaking her head towards the officer. "No sir, I'm sorry. It was just a misunderstanding." He eyed me suspiciously and I met his eyes angrily. "Can I help you? You've been walking in and out of the ER looking at me and my brother suspiciously for the past hour when all that I've done is sit here in this seat. I didn't start anything, she's the one who came over here and started a problem." I snapped. I saw Riley walk through the two set of doors only to rush over to us when he saw the cop and Kiara. He slid in between me and the cop with his hands raised. "Huey chill out." he said to me. I had to chuckle to myself, as much as neither of us liked the cops, I was always the one trying to keep Riley from confronting one. "My bad, man. He's just stressed out, our grandfather is here and we don't know wassup. I'll keep him calm." Riley said quickly, sighing in relief when the cop nodded his head slowly before walking back outside. "Damn. Huey, what the hell? I heard you yelling outside." I shrugged, not caring to say anything when Kiara was still standing there when she obviously wasn't wanted. She should've just left when the cop did. Riley finally turned his attentions to her, his face turning into his usual mean mug. "What you doing here Kiara?" he asked her.

"Last time I checked, I wasn't in a relationship with you so mind your business, Riley." she snapped back. I leaned back in my chair and closed my eyes. I really didn't even know what the hell was going on. It was so crazy that I wanted to laugh until my sides were hurting. Of all the days that I could have possibly bumped into her, why did it have to be today? I shook my head and sighed. Riley grit his teeth. "Shit, you better be happy you got that baby in your arms."

"Or else what?"

"Or else I would've snatched your ass up and dragged you away." Some people were still looking at us, but mostly everybody had figured the show was over now that we were talking in normal voices. I just listened to them bicker back and forth for a few minutes, Riley calling her out her name, Kiara calling Riley a nosy ass nigga.

"Please shut up." I said softly, finally opening my eyes. If they kept at it, I was going to go through sensory overload. Kiara sighed and looked at me with sad eyes. "Can we just talk Huey? For ten minutes." I thought it over a moment before nodding. Riley sucked his teeth at me, "You can't be forreal nigga. After all this hoe did? She need to go sit down somewhere."

"We're just talking Riley." I said, standing up and brushing past him. I put on my jacket and zipped it up, walking over to the exit. She walked past me and back over to the other side of the waiting room, handing Andre over to who I could only assume was the father. He stared me down as Kiara followed me outside, slipping on her own jacket and hat to combat the cold. We walked through the hospital parking lot and up to the street where there was a small bench to sit down at. The snow was still falling from this afternoon, though not nearly as heavy as it had been earlier. We sat in silence for a few minutes, me waiting for her to say something since she wanted to talk so badly.

"You ignore my messages." she said softly. I could feel her eyes on me and I just kept looking ahead. I shrugged my shoulders slowly, "I know I ignore them. Do you expect me to answer you?"

"Well, that's what decent people do Huey."

"Decent people don't cheat on their partner then string them along for an extra nine months." I snapped at her. I turned to glare at her, finally making eye contact with her. I almost felt like someone had punched me in the stomach. Those dark brown eyes staring into mine with the same love they did just a few months ago. "Huey I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry… I know it was wrong and I know that I hurt you. It was a mistake. It was just a huge mistake. I love you, I'm still in love with you. But… things just happen sometimes."

"If you love me so much then why are you still with him? And saying that 'things happen' isn't an explanation or an excuse Kiara." I said, no emotion in my tone. Actions always said more than words, and she knew that. I don't know why she was sitting here telling me all this when her actions showed how she really felt. If she had loved me, why did she cheat in the first place? I shook my head, already done with this conversation. "If this is all you're going to say then we're done here."

"No! Huey listen to me! I've felt like pure, utter shit for months. Everyday I had to lie to you, everyday I had to deal with the aftermath of my actions. My heart aches everyday cause I know how much our relationship meant to you. I know how you felt. I didn't mean to break your heart, Huey… I really didn't. I just couldn't find it in myself to tell you the truth. Everytime I tried I just couldn't find the words."

"Are you serious, Kiara?" I shouted. "You're a fucking walking paradox! You care about me, yet you're still with the nigga you cheated on me with. Last time I checked, he didn't do shit for you or that baby when your ass was pregnant! Who was working two part-time jobs? Me. Who bought your son clothes and diapers and a crib and all that shit?! Me. Who bought you maternity clothes and rubbed your feet and did everything for you? Fucking me, Kiara!"

"Shut up! Don't you dare judge me and Christian's relationship." she cried. I snorted, looking at the tears streaming down her cheeks. Part of me felt happy for causing them, the other part of me wanted to kiss her and wipe them away.

"Don't judge it?! How can I not judge it when you're sitting in my damn face telling me you love me! You feel like shit? I'm the one who should feel like shit. I was the one who got the wrong end of the fucking stick. Nobody told you to cheat and lie. Nobody." She let out a loud sob and scooted closer to me. I looked at her, ready to ask her what she was doing, when I felt her warm lips pressed against mine. I froze, stuck between pushing her away or kissing her back. Her tongue rubbed against my lower lip and I instinctively opened my mouth. Before I knew it, we were making out. I wrapped my arms around her waist and pulled her closer to me as she wrapped hers around my neck. I missed this and even though it felt wrong, it was something I didn't ever want to end. We pulled apart quickly, gasping for breath before pressing our lips together again. It felt like an eternity, those kisses. When it was all said and done I couldn't help but feel disgusted with myself. Not only was Kiara in a committed relationship but I was trying to be _something_ , for lack of better words, with Jazmine. I stood up and took a step backwards. "Huey…" Kiara trailed off.

I shook my head, "No. What the hell Kiara?" At the same time I was asking myself the same thing.

"It's not like you didn't kiss me back, Huey. Don't get upset with me." She sighed, reaching out for my hand and pulling me to sit back down with her. "Besides, don't you miss that?" She asked, her voice getting a tone deeper. I grit my teeth and shook my head, wiping my lips off. I snatched my hand out of her grip. "We're done here."

"You're acting like it was more than just a kiss!" She shouted at me angrily. I couldn't even form words, it was more like a bunch of question marks popping up all over my brain.

"Y…you're in a relationship?! A kiss is a damn kiss!"

"Oh my god." She groaned, acting as if I was wrong for even bringing it up. I turned around and started walking back towards the hospital. I didn't even know what to think. It was wrong that I had kissed her back, of all the things I could of done. I knew the circumstances the both of us were in. Shit, I just made out with her when her boyfriend was in the hospital, just a parking lot away. Even if me and Jazmine weren't a thing, we were trying to be. I could have just jeopardized all of that.

"Huey! Don't walk away from me." She shouted at me. I turned around to face her. I should have just kept my ass in the waiting room and never came out here, like Riley suggested. There was nothing good that could come out of being with Kiara, not anymore. I don't know when but somewhere along the line her intentions got twisted. Almost as if even if she was trying to do good but she just couldn't show it. "Huey Freeman! I love you, please don't walk away from me!?" I shook my head slowly. I had to keep walking, even if she was begging me to stay. Even though those few moments were… amazing in some sick, sadistic way. I had wanted the chance to kiss Kiara again, one last time, ever since we broke. Now that it had finally happened, I didn't feel the same. While it brought back old memories and sensations, it just didn't sit right in my stomach. Whether it was because maybe I really was getting over her or because of Jazmine or just the fact that my granddad was sitting in the hospital, near death. I cursed to myself and grit my teeth. I was halfway through the parking lot and she had either stopped crying or I was just too far away to hear her.

When I walked back into the waiting room, there were significantly fewer people inside. I didn't bother looking in the direction of Kiara's boyfriend and son and went straight to the other side where I saw my brother at, tapping away at his phone. I sat down next to him, sighing heavily. He didn't bother looking at me but he asked, "So what happened nigga?"

"We made out."

"You stupid as hell." He sucked his teeth at me. "I never liked that hoe, always looked like a snake." A few months ago I probably would have punched him for saying something like that but now, I couldn't deny that it was true. My brother could be an idiot but he knew how to read people, even if he barely knew them. I shrugged my shoulders. "Anyone come out to tell you something about Granddad?"

He shook his head slowly. "Nah, I went up and asked, she said we just needed to be patient so they could run the tests. At least we know he still alive." He trailed off slowly. We sat there for a moment. "I called Cindy when I was outside, she said she was on her way over. I don't think she gon bring Jaz or anything… but be ready just in case she does."

I nodded my head. I could only hope that Jazmine didn't tag along, just for her sake. I could only imagine how Kiara would act if she saw me and Jazmine together. She wouldn't be as dumb to blurt out that we just made out, not with her boyfriend only a few feet away. Speaking of Kiara, she finally came back inside. She didn't bother looking my way and went straight over to her side. Maybe this would put an end to the text messages from her and I'd never have to deal with her ever again. "When are you and Cindy gonna finally get together?" I asked, a smirk on my face.

Riley sputtered, "T-the hell are you talkin' about? Cindy's my homegirl. Besides, I'm not ready to drop any of my hoes."

"Riley, you haven't had hoes in the longest." I sighed. He was always in denial when it came to Cindy when it was obvious they had something for each other. I mean, there had to be something to it, she was coming to the hospital for him when it was almost two in the damn morning.

"Mind your damn business." He muttered, sitting back and crossing his arms. "You gonna tell Jazmine what happened?"

"Yeah, I guess so. She deserves to know." I sighed heavily. Riley shook his head. "I wouldn't tell if I were you. I know I just vouched for you and all, but… what she don't know won't kill her. The kiss ain't mean nothing, did it?" I rolled my eyes. "She kissed me, but I didn't stop it."

"Aight then, it's settled. Jazmine don't need to know." He smirked at himself, like he had came up with the solution to a million dollar question.

"And what if it comes back around one day? Then she's gonna think I'm a liar. So I'm gonna sit her down and tell her. Just explain everything. She should understand." Of course I could only hope. There was always the chance that she understood, but wasn't okay with it. Riley didn't say anything else about it, instead choosing to talk about how we had school in just a few hours. I had already decided that I wouldn't go in and if I could, I'd stay in the hospital with Granddad, just in case anything happened. Riley had decided the same thing, wanting to be there just in case these were our granddad's final moments. That's why I was so irritated that they hadn't even let us see him yet. If he was going to die anytime soon, I wanted to spend as much time with him until that very moment.

We talked about whatever we could, school, shows, sports, even though I rarely kept up with them, girls, what we'd do in the future. I hadn't just sat down and talked with Riley in a long time. It made me upset that it had to happen under these circumstances but I was grateful nonetheless. This emergency with Granddad made me realize to spend as much time with my loved ones as possible because tomorrow wasn't promised. We talked for a good twenty minutes before Cindy finally came in, out of breath. "Reezy! Huey!" She blurted out from the entryway before getting pointed looks from a few people. She mumbled oops and walked over and stood in front of us. "What the hell happened? Are y'all good? Is Granddad good?" Her blue eyes were red and puffy and it made sense that she was crying over what was going on. While they weren't blood related, she had been best friends with Riley for ten years and had bonded with Granddad over time. Riley shrugged. I could see him guarding his face, trying not to show any of the emotion he was feeling. That was when Cindy threw her arms around him, hugging as tightly as she could. "It's gonna be alright, even if something happens…" she said to him quietly. It took a moment, but Riley's face relaxed and his arms wound around Cindy's waist. I felt awkward sitting next to this really intimate moment. She finally let go of him, turning to me. "Are you good Huey?" Her eyes full of just as much emotion for me as they were for Riley. I nodded my head slowly. "I'm fine."

Before I knew it, her arms were wrapped around me too. It was a short hug and I didn't hesitate hugging her back. She was annoying and loud-mouthed but she was part of our family too. When she pulled away from me, she sat down next to Riley. I pretended to ignore how her hand slowly intertwined with his and how every now and then he would squeeze her hand, like she was his anchor to keep from floating away. "Are y'all going to school tomorrow?"

"Nah," Riley shook his head. I finished the sentence for him, "We're going to stay here. Just in case." She nodded mutely.

"I'll get your homework and everything Riley. Can't have you slackin' off." She smirked at him and squeezed his hand tightly. He groaned and sat back. "Give me a break."

"You were barely passing when I started with you. What're your grades now?" She said sarcastically. Riley sighed and shrugged his shoulders. "Since you don't know, you went from F's and D's and C's and B's. And I'm trying to keep it that way." I smiled. I didn't even know that Riley was doing better in school. It wasn't like he didn't understand what was going on he just lacked the motivation to do anything. Once he was threatened to be kicked off the basketball team, he raised his grades to D's and did the bare minimum to keep it there. Cindy must not have liked the idea of him staying back and not graduating on time.

Riley changed the subject, "Jaz couldn't come?"

Cindy shook her head, "Nah. Her parents said she couldn't. I don't really blame em though, they don't know us like that and the hospital is downtown. It ain't the best place to be at in the middle of the night." She yawned softly and stretched her free arm out. "Damn, you guys aren't tired?" Truthfully I was. I could see it on Riley's face that he was tired too. We nodded at the same time and ended up yawning. "We just gotta stay up long enough so we can find out what was wrong and what they're gonna to do." Riley sighed.

"I'll stay with y'all." she said softly, leaning her head back against the wall and closing her eyes.

Riley shook his head. "Nah you don't need to stay Cin, go back home."

"Why would I leave you guys alone? Besides I took my mom's car, so if she wakes up and sees that I'm not in my room, she's gonna kick my ass."

"You did _what_?" Me and Riley whisper/shouted at the same time. She sucked her teeth and shooed us. "Shut up, once I tell her it was 'cause of Granddad and I didn't wanna wake her up, she'll understand."

The doors to the ER rooms swung open for what seemed to be the millionth time that night. A tall black man in scrubs came out, look around the waiting room. "Is anyone here for Robert Freeman?" All three of us shot up and walked over to him. He looked at us oddly, like two black boys and white girl was something you never saw before. He glanced down, seeing Riley and Cindy holding hands and the look on his face disappeared. He took us in past the doors and into a small room. Every step was like torture. Didn't they only take people into rooms if they died? Wasn't the first thing they did if they weren't dead was show them to said person? There was a small couch and a chair for the doctor to sit in. Cindy sat down and then made Riley sit down but I stood up the whole time. The doctor took a seat and looked at us.

"I would assume you boys are Mr. Freeman's grandsons?" We nodded our heads. Riley squeezed Cindy's hand tighter and I could only imagine how hard he was squeezing. "He's doing just fine. He's stable now but we found what the problem was."

Everyone let out a heavy sigh. I smiled and shook my head. Thank goodness he was okay.

"Your granddad has coronary heart disease, which is basically the buildup of plaque in the arteries. He suffered a severe heart attack. I'm pretty sure that this goes in conjunction with his type 2 diabetes. We gave him blood thinners and a few other things for now, but we want to put a stent in his artery, so this doesn't happen again. You guys need to make sure that his diet is healthy so he doesn't have another problem like this in the future."

"Is he going to be okay?" Cindy asked softly. I was glad that she asked because I couldn't find it in myself to ask and it seemed like Riley couldn't either.

"Do you want the doctor answer or an honest one?" He questioned.

"Honest." we all said at the same time.

The doctors sighed and nodded his head. "Well, a severe heart attack is determined by how much damage has been done to the heart. The truth of the matter is that a severe heart attack can lead to another heart attack or even heart failure completely. It's a good thing he was brought in when he was because even more damage could have been fatal."

Riley shook his head, "That's all that doctor talk, what's gonna happen?"

"There's the chance he will survive, but the chance that he won't is higher. At his age, in conjunction with the diabetes and kidney issues… his chances are slim. I'm sorry boys." I nodded my head slowly, the words hitting me like a freight train. He would be gone soon. We'd be left on our own to deal with everything. The doctor got up, saying he would give us a moment and that when we were ready to see our granddad, a nurse would be nearby, ready to take us. I kept up a strong guard, not sure why I was doing so. All I really wanted to do was cry. Even Riley was crying, his face buried in Cindy's shoulder while she rubbed his back, tears falling down her cheeks one by one. I stood up and let them have their privacy. "I'm gonna go see him now…" I trailed off. I'm sure they heard me but neither of them acknowledged me.

The nurse took me to his room, which was just down the hall from where I was. I walked in and sat down on the chair that was next to him. He was awake, but I couldn't find the words to say to him. He was going to be gone soon and it scared me more than I ever thought it would.

"Why you so quiet boy?" he chuckled weakly, turning his head to look at me. "Well… You've always been quiet. Only got somethin' to say when it's important. What's on your mind?"

"The doctor…" I trailed off.

"I know, I know. I told him to give it to me straight." he shook his head slowly. "Don't worry, Huey. I sure as hell don't wanna die no time soon… but I'm an old man. I didn't take care of myself like I should have and I'm sorry. If I done that it could have meant a few more years with you and Riley." A small smile spread onto his face, it wasn't really a happy smile but more so one of relief. "I felt it comin'. That's why I been busting my ass tryna get y'all situated for afterwards." I felt my eyes water up and I sniffled loudly, wiping at my face and nose. I wasn't going to cry, I couldn't. I just nodded my head, not wanting to speak. "Boy you'll be just fine. Remember when your father passed? You were in tears for weeks, hell, months. But time passed and even though you didn't forget him, you felt better. Feel comfort in the fact that I got to live a long life."

"I'm not ready to deal with everything when you're gone, Granddad."

"We've talked about this before. You got this, Huey. Between you and your brother you got a little over a million dollars. Use it wisely. I'm gonna hold on as long as possible…" he trailed off, not sure of what else to say. I sat there letting the tears slide down my face slowly. He looked at me, tears falling from his eyes too and I reached over and grabbed his hand.

"Stick around as long as you can. But I've got it afterwards. I'll make you, my dad and my mom proud. I promise." I wiped at my eyes and squeezed his hand.

"Thank you for saving my life, Huey." he mumbled softly. I told him of course, that I wasn't going to just stand there and wait for the EMTs to show up. After all the tears, all though they did fall every now and then, we talked about what had transpired between me and Kiara. I told him how I had felt, how confused I was. How I really felt about Jazmine, yet so guilty about doing Hiro dirty. I told him everything because this could be our last heart to heart conversation ever. And he told me wise words. He told me to do what felt best for me and not anybody else. He told me to avoid Kiara like the plague because she wasn't the same girl she used to be. He told me to make amends with Hiro and if I wanted to pursue something with Jazmine, I should try. He also told me not to get any girls pregnant because he didn't want his money wasted on that. We talked until Riley found it in himself to come in, Cindy right beside him.

There were more tear jerking moments, but Granddad spoke some wisdom to Riley, too. He even said a few words to Cindy. We all joked around for a little, just so we could lighten to mood a little until granddad fell asleep. The nurse came in, saying he'd be moved into the elderly unit to make space in the ER. We weren't allowed to stay on the unit after hours, so even though none of us wanted to leave his side, we had to go home. Me, Riley and Cindy said our goodbyes to him even though he was asleep and walked out to the parking lot.

Riley and Cindy had still never let go of each other's hands and I couldn't help but smile. We were all quiet, the snow falling heavier than it was last time I was outside when Cindy broke the silence. "Want me to come home with y'all? I'll have to leave in the morning but…" she trailed off. I knew she wasn't really asking me but Riley instead. He nodded his head slowly and they finally let go of their hands so she could get to her car and we could get to ours. We finally reached Dorothy and I got in quickly, turning the engine and blasting the heat to get rid of the cold in the air. I moved the windshield wipers to move the layer of snow on the front and yawned. It was nearly four in the morning and I was glad we didn't plan on going to school tomorrow.

 **Thanks for reading, make sure to leave a review before you go!**


	18. Chapter 18

**A bit of a filler chapter, but a few things happen. New character introduction, Jaz/Hiro, yada yada. Maybe two more chapters before a time skip! Enjoy this chapter!**

I sighed heavily as my mom's car pulled up to the school's drop off area. I was a nervous wreck today, because of Huey granddad being driven to the hospital in the middle of the night and because I was going to talk to Hiro today. Huey told me that he wasn't going to talk to him today, but instead give him some time to think about what I said to him first, then maybe it wouldn't be such a big reaction again. The idea of facing Hiro alone put a bitter taste in my mouth. I knew that every guy wasn't as great as they seemed but when we first met, he did seem genuine. After this past week, I knew what he was capable of. Shaking the thoughts out of my head I glanced at my mom. "No skipping school today, young lady."

I nodded once, "I know, I know. I'll see you after school?" I said as I climbed out the car, grabbing my bag from the backseat. She nodded her head and as soon as I slammed the door shut she drove off. Driving me to school added time to her commute and the last thing she wanted was to be late. It was still technically her new job. I sighed and started walking towards the building, the snow crunching beneath my sneakers. I still had some time to spare before the school doors opened so I would be stuck outside in the cold like the rest of the students. So I walked around aimlessly, semi-looking for a few people I had talked to in class and semi not wanting to stand still for fifteen more minutes in the cold. The first person I noticed was Michael, who was of course followed by none other than his girlfriend, Ming. I rolled my eyes, hesitating on whether or not I should even go over. It wasn't like me and Michael were close and Ming didn't like me. Shaking my head, I walked over to them, maybe this would give us some time to work whatever problem she had with me. I took a deep breath and smiled, "Hey Michael."

He turned to look at me, a smile popping onto his face. I saw Ming look at me, her face calculating. "Oh, hey wassup Jaz!" he said happily before his tone went a tad bit more serious. "Are you okay? I talked to Hiro and… I don't know what he's thinking but I told him his wrongs. You didn't deserve that, regardless the circumstances."

"You really didn't." Ming chimed in, much to my surprise. "If you want, I can go punch him in his face for you. I can't stand guys who slut shame." She mumbled the last part to herself, shaking her head. Michael just laughed and shook his head, pressing a kiss to her forehead. "You can't punch him Ming."

"Who says I can't?" she remarked, a smirk on her lips.

"Me, we don't need anymore problem in our group than we already got."

A light feeling bloomed in my chest, he considered me a part of their 'group', even after all the problems I had caused. I stood there awkwardly, not really sure what to say on the account of Ming being there. Me and Michael weren't close but he was one of the friendliest people I have ever met. Ming was the exact opposite, being closed off and reserved, much like Huey was when we first met. I saw him nudge her gently and she shot a playful glare at him before clearing her throat.

"Michael says that you think I don't like you." Ming said matter of factly. I was taken aback at how blunt she was, but nodded my head in agreement with her statement. "Well that's not really the case, I don't dislike anyone. I don't know you but Michael says you're cool but before? I was more worried about you being one of the those girls that went around the whole 'squad' or whatever, then with the whole Hiro to Huey thing… I wasn't gonna let anything slide. But Michael says you aren't like that… so I'm giving you a fair chance."

I smiled at her nodding my head. "I never planned on trying to get with Michael, I never will. I just, Hiro was nice and everything, but I like Huey. I never meant for anything to turn out the way it did."

She shrugged her shoulders before mumbling a soft apology for how I got the wrong idea. Although it was a half ass apology, I appreciated it. I forgave her feeling even lighter than before. I wasn't going to have to worry about Ming anymore, since I was for sure going to be apart of their group. I was thinking how everyone would be able to talk to each other normally but then I remembered Hiro and I frowned. Michael smiled again, probably glad there wasn't going to be anymore tension between me and his girlfriend. "So, Huey told me last night about the plan. You gonna go through with it?"

I nodded my head. "Yeah, I am. I wanted to talk to him this morning, but lunch is longer so I figured maybe then. Now that I think about it, can you guys kind of… I don't know, lead him to the library? Before he gets his lunch, so we could sit down and talk." I knew he'd be pissed about missing lunch, but I had made his cookies last night in an effort to try and win him over just a little.

Michael nodded, "Yeah, we can do that. Oh but hold on, do you know where Huey's at? Hiro didn't stop on your street but I usually see him walk past by now."

I sighed and nodded my head. "His granddad had a heart attack last night. Him and Riley are going to spend the day with him." Huey had told me about the slim chances Robert had of surviving and all though I didn't think he would mind me telling Michael, it obviously wasn't my place to say anything about it. I didn't want him to blow up in my face again for not minding my business. Ming gasped quietly at the news and Michael's smile slowly faded from his face. He sat down next to Ming, wrapping his arm around her tightly. She had looked sad, but Michael looked a lot worse at the news. Most people knew eighty year olds didn't survive heart attacks, and we all knew about his diabetes. Michael had known Huey just as long as Hiro did and I could imagine how attached he got within those ten years. I put my hand on his shoulder and squeezed it before letting go. "You should go visit him as soon as you can. Him, Riley and Cindy were there most of last night." That sentence had gotten me a little upset. Cindy was willing to pick me up to go to the hospital with her but my parents had said no. I begged for them to go, wanting to be there for Huey and his brother in anyway that I could. Once Cindy told me she was going, I only wanted to go more. The hospital was downtown and it wasn't a safe place, especially because I didn't know the area.

"I think I'm gonna go after school today." Michael said, the loud bell that announced students were able to go inside the bell cutting off half of his sentence. I sighed, shaking my head. "That'd be a good idea… Think I can tag along?"

"Yeah, of course!" Michael smiled at me. "Give me your number so I can text you? I doubt Hiro will go right now… who knows. I guess Ming has to drive us." he smirked at his girlfriend playfully. She tried to hold back her smile but she couldn't. "Of course I will."

I gave Michael my number so we could somehow plan this before the school day was over and then I quickly texted my mom saying I might now need a ride home. "Alright… I'll see you later, I'm gonna head in." I said quickly, ready to get out of the cold. They nodded and we waved bye, Michael and Ming walking in the other direction and me heading to the set of doors right in front of me. I rolled my eyes, a bit pissed off I'd have to deal with Ms. Gold and her crap. And I was right, as soon as I step foot in her door, she turned to look at me. "Miss Dubois… can you explain why you never went down to the Dean's office yesterday?" the smile on her face was overly sweet. I walked over to my desk, the few students that were in the room looking back and forth between me and her. Good thing class hadn't started and everyone wasn't in here yet. I shrugged my shoulders, digging in my bag and taking out a pen and my math notebook. "And you were absent to all your other classes yesterday too. Isn't that a coincidence?"

"I spent my day in the library." I said without as much attitude as I could muster.

"You still skipped. I hope you know that's grounds for two days OSS and one day ISS." She snapped at me. I tried to understand just why she was so angry at me and hellbent on starting an argument with a student. I just nodded, never one to argue with a person with authority. My parents had always taught me not to and it was a hard habit to break. Even after what what down yesterday, I was going to come back and apologize for yesterday. That apology was flushed down the toilet. "You are an insubordinate child!" She snapped at me, angry for a reason I couldn't understand. "Get out of my classroom! Actually go to the dean this time or I will personally deal with your punishment!"

Someone tried to calm her down, saying that I hadn't done anything and she snapped at them too. They quieted down with the threat of suspension. He shot me a look of apology and I smiled lightly back at him. It wasn't his fault she was a crazy witch. I shoved my things in my bag and walked out of the room, heading straight towards the main office to ask where the Dean was. I didn't need to get into more trouble. I sighed softly as I asked the secretary where to go. She got up and took me to the office. He was skinny, middle aged white guy with one small hoop earring. He was balding at the top of his head but he seemed very laid back. He and the secretary greeted each other and he told me to sit down in the chair.

He smiled at me, "I've never seen you in here before."

"Yeah, I'm new. My parents registered me over the phone. I'm Jazmine Dubois."

He quirked an eyebrow. "Did one of your teachers send you to me yesterday?" I grudgingly nodded my head. He was tapping away at his keyboard, probably looking for my student profile. "You skipped yesterday, didn't you?"

"Yes, but I was just in the library all day." I said, only telling half of a lie. He nodded his head. "Ms. Gold sent you. If you were a trouble maker or if it was something serious… I would do something, but I won't. She's can be overbearing sometimes."

"She really is, and I've only been here for a week. The first thing she did this morning when walked in was argue with me and then kick me out. She said I'd get in and out of school suspension. Am I?" The dean shook his head, waving his hand like he wasn't even going to entertain the idea. "Just don't skip again, okay? If you get sent down to me or the office or wherever, just go. If you're where you're supposed to be, you can be accounted for. Would you like to change your teacher?"

I nodded my head quickly and he chuckled. "I'll write you a note to your counselor."

I sighed in relief. I wasn't going to get in trouble or be stuck with a crazy teacher for the rest of the year.

I sat down in the library, my container of cookies in front of me. I had grabbed a table near the back so we could have a little bit of privacy. If Ming and Michael pulled through for me, Hiro should be walking through the door any moment now. I bounced my leg up and down quickly, wanting to get this over with and just move on. Even if nothing was ever 'okay' again, at least I would have told my side of the story and genuinely apologized for everything. My day had been okay, after I had switched math classes and this conversation had the ability to make it even better or ten times worse. The library doors opened and I took a deep breath as I saw Hiro walk in, Michael right behind him. They were too far away for me to hear what they were saying but as Hiro was looking around he made eye contact with me. He turned around, saying something to Michael with an angry look on his face. He spun around to walk out only for Michael to spin him back in my direction. After another minute of arguing, Hiro stalked over to me and Michael left, waving goodbye at me from the doors. .

"You want to talk?" He said, not angry but not in a friendly way, either.

"Yeah, I made your cookies, by the way." I pushed them across the table and he took the container hesitantly. "I just wanted to say sorry. Alright? I know things could have went completely differently had I just talked to you about how I was feeling and everything. I just want to get the chance to sit down and explain to you my thinking and why I did everything how I did. Can I?"

He opened the container and took a cookie. "Yeah, I guess you can."

I wanted to roll my eyes but I held back. I didn't have to explain myself, I told him in the beginning that whatever we were, it wasn't going to be serious and he had said he was okay with it. Of course, he probably hadn't expected me to go hooking up with one of his best friends but the meaning of it still stood. He, on the other hand, needed to explain why he had dirtied my name over a petty grudge. I shook my head. "I wanna start of with saying that when we first started hanging out, I told you that it wasn't serious. I just wanted something just for fun, relaxing. I know you probably didn't think that if I was going to go to another guy, it wouldn't have been Huey… but that's how things worked out. I liked you Hiro, before you started calling me a whore and slut, telling everyone I sucked your _thing_ , and before all that I felt bad for doing you like that. I was so conflicted about being with Huey because of how you might feel. Then you practically backstabbed me and I just didn't care anymore."

"I'm sorry about all of that Jazmine…" Hiro trailed off. I nodded, accepting his apology but not at all forgiving him. "I was hurt. You said it wouldn't be serious but I started to like you. You understood me and you listened to me, you never judged me. I felt so comfortable with you and I just wanted to keep it like that. I meant to slander your name at the time but I just regret it now. I wish I wouldn't have done it."

"That was immature. Immature and petty and only a little kid who can't handle doing sexual things with another person acts like that. If I had knew you were such a bitter person, I would've never even talked to you." I snapped at him, blushing after I finished.

"I know Jazmine." He sighed, taking another cookie. "If I could take it back I would. You didn't deserve that. I was just hurt. And, if we're being honest, I woulda never thought you'd go to Huey. I mean, out of all people, him? Had you messed with someone else, I would have been mad, just on a different level."

"You know some guys stare at me now, because of you? Because they think I'm some chick who will suck whoever's _thing_ and you know I'm not like that." I took a deep breath, feeling myself get upset again. I shook my head and put my hands up. "Nevermind, we're here to talk about why. Why I did what I did, all honesty." Hiro nodded his head and sat back in the seat. He still looked pretty mean, but the frown on his face wasn't nearly as bad as five minutes ago. "I met Huey before I met you, almost literally. Of course he wasn't nearly as nice as you were but he was interesting to me. I just wrote him off because he was a jerk. But then I met you and you were standing there, all friendly and ready to give me a ride home in the shitty weather. Complimenting me. After that it was just us, since I didn't really talk to Huey much. I liked you, Hiro. You're fun to be around and you're sweet and hilarious. But I didn't like you enough to be something more, like you were looking for." I didn't had in how if Huey had stayed aloof and I hadn't been so nosy trying to get to know him, me and Hiro _could_ have had a chance together. I didn't want to give him any bit of false hope. "That day I told you about me and Huey out of respect for you, and for what could have been our friendship. Then it just kinda blew up in my face. After that I didn't feel bad for you, so I did what I wanted."

Hiro nodded his head, a smile on his face. I wanted to ask why he was smiling but he started chuckling. "You're so into Huey… it's funny. You don't even really know him. You're just his rebound."

"What?" I grit my teeth together.

"He's using you. Just like he's used," Hiro paused to count on his fingers before looking back up at me and smirking. "Five other girls in the past few months. You just make girl number six. Congrats."

I sat there for a minute, really looking at Hiro. Of course the news was shocking, but why would I believe what Hiro said, of all people? I narrowed my eyes at him, "You're a freakin' loser, Hiro. It's pathetic." I snapped loudly at him. I grabbed my container of cookies, closing the lid shut and shoving them back in my bag before slinging said bag over my shoulder. I flipped him off and I stormed out the library. I felt like my resolve was breaking. Was any of this even worth all the drama and he said, she said? For someone I've known for a week? I facepalmed myself and headed to my black history class. Mrs. Smith was always in her class during lunch along with a bunch of other students, she wouldn't mind if I came a little earlier than I was supposed to.

I climbed up the steps, huffing slightly when I reached the top of them. There were just _so_ many. I went down the hall to her class, and just like I thought, she was sitting in there eating her lunch. Three guys and two girls were sitting around her desks, talking. They didn't look familiar and I blushed, the shyness in me coming out. "Hey Mrs. Smith. You mind if I come a little earlier?"

They all turned to look at me. Mrs. Smith finished chewing her bite of salad and smiled at me. "Of course, babygirl. Come in!" I smiled back and sat close to her desk but not really a part of the group. One of the guys kept looking at me and I tried to avoid him, not sure exactly why he was looking at me. Conversation resumed and I mostly minded my business. I could be really out there, just not with strangers. Another guy, one with a short haircut and light brown eyes tapped my shoulder, "What you doin' sitting by yaself?" he asked me. He moved his desk to the side, making a space for me to move in closer to the circle. I scooted the chair in, thanking him softly.

Everyone else was talking about some students and teachers. Of course I had no idea who those people were, so I felt really out of the loop. The guy who was staring at me earlier had finally stopped, getting interested in the conversation again. I sighed in relief at that. The boy next to me tapped me again, a warm smile on his face. "You're the new girl."

"Uhm… Yeah, I guess I am." I mumbled awkwardly. No one else was paying attention to us. I hoped he wasn't interested in me because that wasn't something I could handle right now.

"Sorry you had to deal with Hiro." he looked at me, shaking his head. "He's a lame."

First I turned red, angry and embarrassed at the same time. Then I smiled, realizing he wasn't judging me. He didn't even know me and he was on my side. I snorted and rolled my eyes, agreeing with him once the surprise wore off. "He really is. I guess he's done something like this before?"

"Ha, pulls shit like that all the time." the boy laughed. Mrs. Smith turned to look at him, her eyebrows scrunching together, "Boy watch ya mouth!"

"Sorry Mrs. Smith," he smiled at her.

"Mhmmmm. Don't make me call your mom again Cairo." she said seriously. The smile on her face gave away that she wasn't serious though. He turned back to me, still smiling wide. "Anywaaaaays, my girl messed with him a while back and he pulled that BS when she started talking to me. I shut it down though." he smirked at me like he was proud. I couldn't help but laugh. Cairo seemed so laid back and relaxed. It also helped that I didn't have to worry about any bad intentions. It would be good to had a guy friend, _just_ a friend, that I could talk to. Not that he was a friend yet, but I could see the potential there.

 _Huey's POV_

I was still in shock from yesterday and now I was just running on autopilot. A small part of me wished that I actually had someone to go to for comfort. All though I felt like I could go to Jazmine, I didn't want to open up all the way to her. Not with something that was so important that made me so emotional. Riley was lucky, having Cindy by his side. I had heard him crying last night, Cindy trying to comfort him to the best of her ability.

I was dealing with this on my own.

Just like how I dealt with everything else in my life.

I sighed. Today had been a long day and I was tired. I was running on a few hours of sleep while being stressed as hell at the same time. Me and Riley had been at the hospital from the start of visitation hours, which was nine in the morning. Granddad had suggested we go home, to get him a few things so he wouldn't be bored in the hospital. The both of us were really hesitant at first, not wanting to leave until we actually had to. In the end, Riley ended up staying behind with Granddad while I drove home to get the few things he asked for.

I moved as quickly as I could, wanting to spend as much time as I could with my family before we were split up again. Once Granddad was gone, it'd just be me and my brother. And the thought of that scared me. My family was already small to begin with. I lost my mom when I was seven, my dad when I was ten. Aunt Cookie passed away three years ago. There was family, but they weren't _family_ , just a bunch of strangers that only met up during funerals and family reunions. I unlocked the door to the house, stomping the snow off my boots and walking through the house and into my Granddad's room. I grabbed his crossword puzzle book, his word search, the one book he had been reading for who knows how long. I spotted his glasses on his nightstand and grabbed those too. I grabbed a book from my room, sure that the next few hours until visitation ended would go slowly once Granddad fell back asleep. He took a lot of naps, trying to recover and everything. I locked the house up and got back into the car, turning the engine and heading back to the hospital.

I was only gone for forty minutes tops, so when I got back I hadn't expected anyone other than Riley and Granddad to be in the room. To say I was surprised when there were flowers and balloons along with Cindy, Michael, Ming and even Jazmine, was an understatement. I felt a smile slowly creep across my face. I had gotten a bunch of text and phone calls over the course of the day as my friends found out about my Granddad, but I didn't expect anyone to actually visit. Not even my very best friends. "What are you guys doing here?"

Michael smiled, dapping me up, "What do you think we here for? I can't not visit, you guys are pretty much family."

I nodded my head slowly, and thanked my best friend. He had never let me down, ever. I don't know why I thought he wouldn't have shown up. Ming came up to me, hugging me tightly and patting my back. I hugged her back, the action feeling a little awkward. Cindy was too busy in the middle of a conversation with Granddad and Riley, which left Jazmine. She smiled at me and opened her arms up to hug me tightly. "I'm sorry I couldn't come yesterday, my parents…"

I cut her off, nodding my head and wrapping my arms tightly around her. "Cindy told me already. Thanks for coming…" I trailed off. All though hugging wasn't PDA in my book, it was getting to be a little long and I could see everyone glancing at us from the corner of their eyes so I let go of her. Riley snickered as the two of us moved to join everyone else around my granddad's bed. There was such a big smile on his face as he looked around the room at the card, flowers and balloons. "Thank you, even though y'all have been a pain in my damn ass these past few years." he said a little more softly this time, "Thank you."

Cindy, Michael, Ming… even Hiro, all though he wasn't here right now, they were all family to me. Just as much as Riley and Granddad were. When he passed, I wasn't going to be alone. Even though I hadn't known Jazmine long, I had a feeling she would become apart of this 'family' of ours.

Everyone stayed for a little over an hour, Michael and Ming leaving first, then Cindy and Jazmine half an hour after. By six o'clock, it was just the three of us again, alone. There would be another three hours until visitation was over and then me and Riley would have to head home. The next three hours went by uneventfully, since my granddad had fallen asleep and stayed that way. Me and Riley talked every now and then, but I mostly read my book while he tapped away at some game on his phone. I rubbed my eyes as I stood up, the nurse already standing in the doorway telling us it was time to go, and walked over to my granddad and squeezed his hand lightly. "Goodnight Granddad." Was all I could make myself say. I wouldn't be in the hospital all day and I would have to go back to school. It made me anxious because anything could happen in those seven hours during school. Riley said his goodbyes and grabbed his charger out of the outlet and we headed out, nodding goodbye to the nurses who had assisted our granddad throughout the day.

"Can we get something to eat?" Riley yawned loudly and obnoxiously.

"Do you have money?" I asked, knowing I wasn't taking him anywhere.

"No. When did I have the time to grab my wallet?" He rolled his eyes at me and I turned the engine. It took all my strength not to roll my eyes. "When you left this morning? That would've been a good idea."

"I grabbed ten dollars and I spent it in the cafeteria!" He sucked his teeth and sat back in the seat, crossing his arms. "And the food was fucking nasty, wasn't even worth spending my damn money."

"Can you stop complaining?" I muttered as I turned out of the parking lot and started to head home. Riley mocked me loudly before telling me to shut up and turned to stare out the window. He was a really big pain in the ass but I couldn't even begin to imagine what my life would be like without my little brother.

 **So, I have some news. I really underestimated the amount of work I would have to do for Graduation Project (which I need to graduate high school) and just senior year in general, and I can already tell that I can't balance writing, school and work at the same time. This means I will be going on a hiatus until this semester is over.**

 **I know I'll probably work on some stories that don't require as much thought and planning, a few things for the holidays and some one shots. Sorry that this is so sudden even when I said I would but school comes first. Thanks for reading With Me, you guys, it means so much! I hope you guys are still around when it comes to me finally updating again. I promise, I'm not giving up on this story!**


	19. Chapter 19

**I'm back :) Hope you guys enjoy this chapter, it's a bit shorter than the last few. Let me know what you think. I'm also posting some other stories later on, so keep out an eye for those if you like my story :)**

"Oh Huey!" she moaned loudly as I bucked my hips into hers, half of me wanting to make love to her and the other half to give her the roughest sex that she's ever had in her life. I glanced down at her, my eyes trailing down from her face, to her heaving chest and down to where our hips connected. I kept pumping into her, feeling myself get closer and closer to my climax. Between her non-stop moaning and they way her insides were rippling around me, I was pretty much in heaven. I reached down to rub her clit as I pounded into her harder, holding my hips against hers roughly as I finally came. It wasn't until after I came down from the pleasure that I realized that I was an absolute idiot… again. I always thought I was smarter than the average man, but I guess I wasn't. The sex had me clinging back to Kiara like a newborn baby and I wasn't ready to let go yet. It had to be a coincidence, her coming back into my life a few weeks ago at the same time Granddad was in the hospital, the same time Jazmine stopped talking to me. I didn't really know what her ulterior motive was, but at this point I didn't even care.

It didn't help that Riley wouldn't even talk to me because of her, not unless he needed to. It was obvious that Granddad was disappointed in me too, but more so in a way that he understood. I didn't know what I was feeling when I was with Kiara. I thought I was over her, thought everything was going great, especially once Jazmine came into the picture. But here I am, fucking my cheating ass ex girlfriend like my life depended on it. I glanced over at Kiara who was laying down besides me, a small smile on her face as she was doing something on her phone. I sighed and scooted over as far as I could without falling off the bed and looked at her. "Can you stop with the self-loathing act already Huey? It's getting a little tiring. We've fucked like, how many times already? Get over it."

"Don't tell me what to get over." I snapped back, standing up and pulling my boxers up off the floor. I groaned loudly as I looked down and didn't see a condom. I always tried, but in the heat of the moment with Kiara telling me I didn't need it… I usually just said 'fuck it' and went along. "Can you get dressed and go? Don't you need to go pick up your kid or something?" That bitterness was seeping back into my mind and I remembered just how much I actually hated Kiara, now that my mind was completely clear. She was a lying, manipulative, cheater and I should've never given her the time of day. Kiara shook her head, "I have forty-five minutes left, wanna have round three?" She smirked at me, putting her phone down and sliding closer to me. I rolled my eyes and shook my head. "No, I have homework to do." She rolled her eyes at me and started to get up to get dressed herself, "You're so full of it Huey. Nobody's is making you fuck me, so stop acting like somebody is forcing you to do it."

"Yeah, doesn't mean I don't need to feel guilty about it."

"If you feel so guilty, why the hell do you keep texting me, asking me to come by?" She crossed her arms across her chest and stared at me. "Hm? Why? Don't act like you're better than me. You're _helping_ me cheat."

I sighed and sat down on the edge of my bed, putting my hands face down in my palms. Words couldn't explain the way she had me wrapped around her finger. Every part of me wished that she was wrong, but she wasn't and the truth was that I had stepped down to her level. It was a weird circle of bullshit. She had cheated on me with her baby daddy and now she was cheating on her baby daddy with me. "I'm leaving. Like I said, get over yourself." She grabbed her purse off my desk and started to walk down the hallway, I followed after her so I could lock the door behind her, ignoring the dirty looks that Riley was sending my way from the couch. After she left, I turned around to face him, "Is there a problem?" I snapped angrily. I was so tired of his shit.

"Yeah, you're a dumbass. That bitch is gonna do you dirty as shit _again_ , yet you still fucking? Especially when you had a chick like Jazmine willing to be with your ass even though you were messed up cause of Kiara? You're a dumbass!" Riley shouted. "You may be my brother but that don't mean I'm not gonna tell you how shit is. Jaz fucked with you so heavy, I chill with her and Cin all the damn time and she's cool as hell. Yet here you are, fucking your ex. I bet you rawdoggin' her ass. She just tryna trap your ass Huey! Start some shit with that pretty boy boyfriend of hers and pin it on you."

"Shut the fuck up and mind your business Riley!" I snapped again, turning around and heading back to my room. I heard him mumble back, "Yeah, aight nigga."

I closed my door, trying my hardest not to slam it shut. I paced around my room for a moment before I decided to strip my bed, the sheets needed to be washed anyways. I tidied up my room a little, dropped down on the floor and did pushups until my arms were shaking. After that I went to go put my sheets in the bag so we could take it to the laundromat this weekend and put new sheets on my bed. There wasn't anything for me to do, really. Riley wasn't talking to me, Hiro and me weren't friends anymore, and I knew that Michael was busy with a family thing. I had other friends, people who I wasn't really close to, but cool to hang out with nonetheless but I didn't really feel like talking to them either. I sighed again and laid down in my bed, turning on the tv and finding a documentary to watch on Netflix. I guess that would be the highlight of my evening.

The next morning I woke up to the sound of Riley and Cindy yelling back and forth between his room and the kitchen. Apparently she came over to make him breakfast. I rolled my eyes and got up and shuffled to the bathroom, freezing when I saw Jazmine sitting on the couch, her legs crossed and eyes glued to the TV. I slid into the bathroom right as she turned to look in my direction. I quickly got into the shower, listening to every word they were saying outside.

"Maybe I shouldn't be here, Cin." Jazmine said. I could hear her get up from the couch, probably to leave. Why she was acting so shy, I'm not sure. If anyone should feel awkward, it should be me. She cut everything off between us without any explanation and then she ignored me like I didn't even exist. The only time I saw her was in the hallways and in fourth block. She had even went as far as to switch her seat in the class to get away from me. At first I was worried, we were supposed to try something, right? At first I thought that Riley had told Cindy about me kissing Kiara, who in turn told Jazmine but that wasn't the case. His lips were zipped shut about that, so in the end I gave up and figured she just wasn't interested in me anymore. It hurt, just a little, but there was nothing I could do about it. I finished my shower, got out to brush my teeth and wrapped my towel around me before heading back to my room. Jazmine must have went into the kitchen because I didn't hear the front door open and I didn't see her sitting on the couch this time. I shrugged my shoulders, I certainly didn't do anything to make her uncomfortable and I had never showed her any disdain, so whatever way she was feeling because I was in my house, was her own problem.

Of course, it didn't help that when I went to go eat my breakfast that Cindy and Jazmine were sitting there, all talking coming to a complete stop as soon as I walked in. I rolled my eyes and got out what I needed to make a smoothie. "I'm gonna go wait in the car." Jazmine said, the chair scraping against the floor as she stood up. Cindy, being the loud mouth that she is, "For what Jazmine? Cause Huey is here? Forget him." I rolled my eyes, turned the blender on and continued to ignore them. "Jazmine, sit down."

"Cindy, I shouldn't be here." Jazmine protested as quietly as she possibly cool.

"No, Riley invited you over. Huey isn't the only one that lives here!" Cindy said. You could tell by her tone that she wasn't talking to Jazmine but to me. I had no idea why she was so hostile towards me, I hadn't done a thing to Jazmine as far as I knew. Jazmine was the one who cut me off, not the other way around. So why was she being so damn passive aggressive? I turned around to face them, took a sip of my smoothie and looked at them. "Do you have something to say, McPhearson?"

Cindy laughed and smiled at me, "Actually, yeah. I do have something to say." She paused. Jazmine tugged at her and avoid eye contact with me. "You're an even bigger asshole than I thought you were!"

"Cut the crap, how the hell am _I_ an asshole? The hell did I ever do to you?" I snapped back.

"Whoa, whoa chill out Cindy." Riley half walked, half ran into the kitchen to stand in between me and his girlfriend. I rolled my eyes, grabbing my glass and walking out the kitchen and back to my room. I could hear Cindy arguing with him over something, but I didn't care enough to care what exactly it was for. I finished getting ready, said goodbye to Granddad and left ten minutes later. No need to stay anymore longer than I needed to.

Even though me and Jazmine hadn't talked in almost two months, I was going to ask what was going on because for whatever reason Cindy was mad at me for, I knew it had to be connected to me. Most of the time I wouldn't care but I wasn't up for arguments every time Cindy was over, which was pretty much all the time now that she was with Riley. So when lunch rolled around, instead of going to the library like I usually did, I went and searched for Jazmine in the cafeteria. I stopped by the table to say what's up to Michael and Ming, only nodding my head at Hiro. We weren't as close as we used to be, but we were cordial and there wasn't anymore animosity. I don't think his feelings for Jazmine are gone, but I think once he realized she wasn't with me, he got over it.

I finally found Jazmine on the other side of the lunch room, sitting with Cairo and his girl…? I didn't know that Jazmine knew Cairo, so the fact that they were sitting together was surprising. I sighed, hoping I could just grab her attention and we could go. I didn't want to deal with Cairo more than I had to. I head over to the table, the first person to look at me was Mariah, Cairo's girlfriend. She tapped his shoulder and they both glanced up at me before saying something to Jazmine, who didn't even bother to turn around. She shrugged her shoulders as I came up behind her and tapped her shoulder. "Jazmine?"

"Wassup Huey?" Cairo said, nodding his head at me. I looked at me, "Nothin', you?"

"Same… You need something?" Cairo questioned. I shrugged my shoulders. "Nothing that concerns you." I replied. He pressed his lips into a flat line and nodded his head slowly. I turned my attention away from him, "Jazmine." Finally, she turned around and looked at me. "Yeah?"

"Can we talk about something?" I paused. "Privately."

She took a minute to reply but eventually she stood up, "Yeah. I guess so."

"Text me or Mariah if you need us." Cairo said as me and Jazmine walked away. I rolled my eyes, what in the world would I do to Jazmine? We walked in an awkward silence, Jazmine following slightly behind me. I had wanted to go to the library at first, but it was nice outside so I figured why not go outside and sit in the senior courtyard? So that's exactly where we went. Once we sat down Jazmine glanced at me. "What do you want Huey?"

"What exactly is the problem that Cindy has with me? Cause I know it has to do with you?" I asked, getting straight to the point. Jazmine scoffed and shrugged her shoulders. "How the hell should I know why she's mad at you and why does it have to have something to do with me? Last time I checked she was also dating Riley?"

"Because I know it has something to do with you, because I'm not an idiot. I heard what she said this morning and I heard how to insisted that you left, just because I walked into the kitchen in _my_ house?"

"I just didn't want to cause any problems, so I suggested to leave. Whatever reason she is mad at you is all her!" Jazmine shouted. "So either go ask her yourself or mind your damn business Huey!" She stood up and started to walk away but I grabbed her arm. "Don't walk away from me."

"Get off of me, Huey!" Jazmine shouted, trying to snatch her arm away from me. "You wanna talk to me now? Even though you didn't even try to talk to me for two months? Leave me alone!"

"What? You cut me off! How is any of this my fault?" I shouted. I was more than confused right now and I had to get to the bottom of it. "What the hell is the problem? What did I do?"

"Hiro told me." Jazmine stated. "Hiro told me how you messed with a bunch of girls, how I was just another notch on your belt. No way I was letting that happen, not on my watch!"

"What? No Jazmine… You aren't- You weren't a notch on my belt? What the hell?" I asked, my voice getting higher by the second. That's why she stopped talking to me? Over something that Hiro told her? It wasn't a lie that I had messed with a bunch of other girls… but it was just a fling. She wasn't just some random girl. But why the hell would Hiro even tell her that? Scratch that, I knew why he would tell her at that moment in time. I just didn't think Jazmine would assume all that without even trying to talk to me about it first. I had came back from my break after staying at home to help Granddad out and she just laid everything out abruptly without any real explanation. At least now I know why. I had been so absorbed in my thoughts that I didn't realize that she had escaped my grip until after she was outside the courtyard.

 **Jazmine's POV**

I finally slipped away from Huey when he looked like he was lost in thought. I should've never said I would come with him. We hadn't talk for two months, why was it any of his business of what was going on? We weren't friends, hell we weren't even acquaintances anymore. And he had the nerve to grab onto my arm. He was lucky that I didn't smack him. I stormed back into the lunchroom and to where my table was. Cairo looked up at me, "You good Jaz?"

I slid back into my seat and nodded my head. "Yeah I'm fine."

"He do anything? Cause I can go handle it right now." I rolled my eyes, shaking my head and sliding all my books back into my bag. I was grateful how protective Cairo was of anyone he considered his friend but he was always so serious. I guess it didn't help that for whatever reason, one that I hadn't been told, he and Huey had a fall out sometime before I got here. "It's fine, Cairo, really. He's just so ugh." I turned to look at Mariah. "Can you come to the bathroom with me?" She nodded her head, telling Cairo to watch our stuff and we made our way to the bathroom. I sighed heavily as soon as the door shut behind us.

"You okay Jazmine…?" Mariah trailed off. "I know how you felt about him, but really… it ain't nothing to worry about. He didn't do nothing bad to you, right?"

"No, of course not but I haven't talked to him in two months? And I stopped everything without even knowing the truth. I deadass liked him so it hurts to think he was just trying to use me. I don't even know what the truth is."

"You can find out though, right?" Mariah turned to face the mirror, messing with her hair. "I mean, honestly, you're holding yourself back. You wanna see what's up, then just ask. Worst thing that happens is he says he was trying to play you. But what nigga is ever honest about that? Like, y'all were gonna get in a relationship and everything but you weren't even prepared to let him speak his side of the story." I sighed, not wanting to let her know she was right. Cindy had same pretty much the same thing, even though she had a lot more of a temper than Mariah and ended up pissed at Huey either way. I felt like she was keeping something from me, but I wanted to hope that she wasn't, considering we were best friends. The bell rang, dismissing us from lunch so me and Mariah walked back to our table, grabbed our things and walked our separate ways. I would end up texting her and Cindy all throughout the rest of the day about what I should do. I know they were probably mad about always having to hear me and my feelings about Huey and even Hiro sometimes, especially because they were both in relationships, but I couldn't help it. When I walked into class, I saw Huey wave from the back, trying to catch my attention, but I ignored him like I had done every other day before this. Maybe I would eventually talk to him, but until then, he might as well be a stranger to me.


	20. Chapter 20

***Shameless plug, but go check out my story Runaway! Other than that, enjoy this chapter :)***

"Did he seriously have the nerve to put his hands on you?" Cindy gasped loudly, "I swear to God, I will kick his damn ass. How dare he do some lame shit like that?" I shook my head as she rambled on, sliding my hands over my face. How many times was I going to have to explain to her that he didn't 'put his hands on me' he just grabbed my wrist. Of course, Cindy was Cindy and she had to make the biggest deal out of just about everything. Mariah sat in the corner, chuckling at Cindy's behavior. "Well, what type of wrist grab was it, Jazmine?" Mariah finally said once she settled down. I shrugged… "Kinda the one that you see in movies. You know, when the guy doesn't want the girl to leave?" I blushed a little and looked away from my two friends that were staring at me intently. "But forget about that! What should I do, you guys?" I frowned. I could not get my mind off of Huey. It didn't help that ever since that encounter we had two days ago, he just kept trying to get my attention anytime possible. In the hallway, in class, during lunch, from across the street.

It was really hard to ignore him when all I really wanted to do was talk to him.

Mariah sighed loudly, shaking her head. "I say the same thing every single time, go talk to him. It's messed up you dropped him like that without even hearing him out."

Cindy sucked her teeth and crossed her arms, "Hell no, she needed to drop him like a bad habit. He's so… ugh." She rolled her eyes. I didn't really know where the hostility towards Huey came from, but there was so much of it and it worried me. Mariah leaned forward on my desk, "Okay, Cin, you say 'drop him, drop him' but why? You're so insistent on Jaz leaving him alone."

"Yeah, of course I am. Jazmine can do so much better than him!" Cindy shouted.

"And how would you know? What has Huey done, that we actually know for sure, to make him unworthy to date Jazmine?" Mariah questioned seriously. Cindy shook her head angrily and put her hands up in the air. "Nevermind that, I'm pretty sure I know what I'm talkin' about. Okay?"

"Yeah, but how?" Mariah deadpanned. I sat on my bed, listening to them go back and forth. Cindy was usually one to always say everything straightforwardly, so now I was suspicious as to why she was beating around the bush. "Cindy, stop bullshitting around and tell us why you think what you're telling us." Cindy's face turned red before she sighed heavily. "Jazmine, that night at the hospital? He kissed Kiara. And now they're hooking up like twenty-four seven. I ain't wanna tell you cause I knew it would hurt you but… I don't know. I'm sorry Jaz."

"Oh." I mumbled softly, nodding my head once. To say I was shocked would be under exaggerating. It was the type of news that actually hit you just like a bus, because you never expected it to happen. After the initial shock wore off, then I was just angry. I turned towards Cindy and tilted my head a little. "How long have you known?"

"Does it even matter?" She snapped. I nodded my head and she sighed loudly. "The night of. And I found out about their relationship maybe a week after it started happening. It was just because Riley was so upset about it."

"Yeah, but why didn't you tell me? You saw how… upset I was over everything? If you wanted me to get over him so bad why wouldn't you tell me as soon as you knew? You _let_ me hang myself up over him for two months, Cindy. I would never do that to you, ever." In the background, Mariah shifted, obviously uncomfortable with the sudden turn in conversation. She stood up, grabbing her keys off my dresser. "Uh… y'all got some stuff to talk about. I'll talk to you guys later?" Me and Cindy nodded tersely and said bye to Mariah. I was grateful she left, to give me and Cindy our space because all of this really had nothing to do with her in any way at all. At least she wasn't the type to sit around and listen just to be nosy. I turned my attention to Cindy who was looking out the window. "How could you do this? Why wouldn't you tell me that?"

"Jazmine I just told you why, I didn't want you to get hurt! I know how much you liked Huey and I thought that telling you would just make it even worse for you, knowing that he was messing around with her ass!" Cindy shouted.

"Yeah but… I would never keep a secret that big from you! You've known for months, Cindy! You know how much I was thinking about him, how often I talked about him. How hard it was to act like he didn't exist. I'm supposed to be your best friend!" I shouted at her, getting angrier and angrier by the second. I would've told her as soon as I found out if I had been in her shoes. Sure, she wanted me to get over him, but not telling me anything just made it five times harder. I shook my head and pointed towards the door. "Leave."

"What? Jazmine you can't be serious…" she trailed off. I shook my head again and kept pointing for her to get out. "Leave. Now."

"You know what? Fine. I don't care. Sorry for trying to protect you!" She grabbed her stuff off of the floor and stomped out the room, slamming the front door shut behind her. I went out to the living room and saw my parents looking puzzled at the front door.

"Did something happen between you and Cindy?" My dad asked nicely, seeing how mad I was. I huffed and went to go lock the door. "Yeah. We got into a fight." Now that the anger had slightly worn off, I wanted to just cry. My dad nodded his head slowly, not asking if I wasn't going to say anything else and I appreciated that. "I'm gonna just go back in my room."

"Alright sweetie, lets us know if you need anything. Okay?" My mom chimed in sweetly. I nodded my head and smiled weakly before heading back to my room and shutting the door behind me. I walked over to my bed and laid down, just staring at the ceiling. I grabbed my phone off my nightstand and went through my contacts slowly, making my way down to the H's in my phone. I was just going to have to talk to Huey, get everything straightened out and hopefully move on.

My heart beat in my chest as I tapped on his contact and texted Huey for the first time in months.

 _Hey_

 **Hey.**

 _Can I talk to you about something?_

 **Like what?**

 _Everything tbh_

 **Sure, I guess so.**

 _Alright, tomorrow? Around 2 let's meet at the park_

 **See you then.**

I let out a heavy sigh and shook my head. That wasn't as dramatic as I thought it would be. I didn't have the energy to do anything else or go out, so I messed around with my makeup for the rest of the day, finished up some homework, and just stayed in my room relaxing, only to go out to go to the bathroom or to go get something to eat. My parents checked up on me a few times but I was fine, and the Cindy situation wasn't anything that I really wanted to talk about.

 **The next day**

I sat at the park table with Huey looking at me with the same curious look in his eyes. It had taken a lot of time, but here we were, willingly talking to each other. I turned all the way around to face him and folded my hands in my lap. He arched an eyebrow and tried to hold back a smirk. "Do you want to start?"

I shrugged my shoulders, "Sure. Let's start off with why you would go back to your ex?"

"What?" Huey said, the momentary look of shock on his face making me want to laugh. Of course he didn't know that I knew about him and Kiara. He thought I was mad at him for messing with all those girls before me. I couldn't be upset that he was messing with her now because _I_ had cut us off. But before that? And kissing her? Thats wasn't okay in my book. He shook his head, "That's why you cut me off?"

"No, i cut you off because Hiro told me you messed around with six other girls and you were planning to do the same to me. That's why I'm mad, but I just learned you kissed Kiara the night at the hospital and now _still_ messing with her? After all the shit she did to you?"

"It has nothing to do with you anymore, so mind your business Jazmine. Last time I checked, we weren't together so I can do whatever and whoever I want. So instead of talking about my business, why don't we talk about what Hiro told you and get that cleared up?"

I sucked my teeth, something I didn't do often because my parents always told me it was rude. "Alright. Let's talk about the six girls. Is it true?"

"Yeah, it's true-" I was about to cut him off but he raised his voice over mine, "-but, I wasn't going to do that to you. That was never my intention. I had my own reason for messing around with them, and it's cause I was trying to deal with all the shit with Kiara. But I mean it when I say that all that was just sex. Once I met you and we started hanging out, it was completely different than that. I really like you and I'm not the type to say that lightly."

I looked away from his harsh glare, blushing. He said like, not liked. It wasn't past tense, he still felt the same? I shook my head, "How was I supposed to know that?"

"How about talking to me about it? It makes no sense the way you went about doing things. For one, me and Hiro weren't even on good terms and neither were the two of you, so you just blindly followed what he said. Second of all, we were supposed to be 'giving it a try' yet… you couldn't give me the benefit of the doubt." I sat there, really taking in everything that he said. I knew deep down that I handled everything the wrong way, I just didn't want to admit that to him. I didn't say anything to him, unable to form the words to apologize.

"Anyways, tell me how you even know about me and Kiara?" He said slowly. I could've lied and said I saw her go to and from him house, but I hadn't. It wasn't like I sat at the window watching their house, and even if I did say that, that wouldn't explain how I knew about their moment at the hospital. I sighed, "Cindy told me the other day."

"I guess that means Riley told her…" Huey groaned.

"Yeah, Riley is really upset with you." I mumbled softly. "Yeah, I know he is but what am I supposed to do about that?" He paused, "Don't even answer that. I know the answer already."

"Can I ask you something?" I asked softly, waiting for Huey to say yes. When he finally nodded his head, I took a deep breath and sighed, "Why are you still messing around with Kiara?"

"I… Don't really know." he shrugged his shoulders. "She's just there, I guess. Even though I know she's not the same person at all, I just can't let her go." I wanted to ask a whole lot more. Did he still love her? Was them being together now important and meaningful for him? What did this mean for us, now that everything was out in the open? I nodded my head slowly, "I see. Well, I have to go now, I have plans with Cairo."

"Alright," Huey said, standing up and getting ready to go himself. "And Jazmine? Thanks for hearing me out. Also, be careful around Cairo. Okay?"

I paused, "what do you mean 'be careful'? Cairo hasn't done anything bad to me." I said accusingly. Forget whatever secret issue they had, Cairo had been nothing but a caring, supportive friend to me. A better friend than Huey or Hiro had been. If it wasn't for Cairo I wouldn't have met all the people he had introduced me to and I would've been alone in school.

"No need to get upset, I'm just saying be careful. I've known him longer than you have, is all." Huey said tensely. I rolled my eyes and shook my head. "Cairo is a great friend. I don't need to 'be careful'."

"Yeah, okay Jazmine." Huey deadpanned as he turned to walk away. I sat at the table, watching him until leave until he was far enough that I wouldn't be following behind him. It really sucked that we had to live on the same exact street.


	21. Chapter 21

**A little bit longer this time around, enjoy :)**

I grit my teeth as I approached Cairo. After my talk with Jazmine three days ago, I knew she wasn't going to listen to what I had to say. I needed to let him know that I wasn't playing any games and that I wanted him to keep his distance from Jazmine. He was standing outside the bathroom talking to two other guys and I walked up, nodding my head at him. "Can we talk?"

He narrowed his eyes and shrugged his shoulders, "Aight, I'll catch you guys later. Peace." He said, dapping them up before turning his attention back to me. "What do you want, Huey?" I shoved my hands into my jean pockets and thought about it for a moment.

"Don't fuck around with Jazmine or we'll have a problem." I spat angrily.

"What exactly would I do to Jazmine? Me and her are cool… And last time I checked she wasn't your girl, so what's it matter to you?"

"You know good and damn well why it matters to me."

"Okay… But it still has nothing to do with you." Cairo said smoothly, acting as if he didn't care. But I knew that it bothered him. I knew that I had struck a chord within him. "Stop trying to start shit Huey, cause if you want a fight I'll give it to you."

"All I'm saying is, is don't mess with Jazmine. I'm surprised she doesn't know yet, actually. And don't think I won't tell her what happened freshman year with that girl."

"Fuck off!" Cairo shouted, shoving me back roughly. That caused a few people to look towards us, already anticipating a fight. I grit my teeth even harder and shoved him back against the wall before throwing a punch. "You don't wanna do this Cairo."

"Yeah, I do." Cairo bounced off the wall and came back at me, throwing two punches at me and landing one on my side. I winced but compared to all the fights I had with Riley when we were younger, it was nothing. I stood up straight and threw another punch at his face but he leaned back in just enough time.

"You just can't let anything go, can you?! I didn't touch that girl!" Cairo yelled. He lunged at me but I dodged him by moving over to the side. He turned back around and caught me off guard, punching me right in the mouth.

"Yeah, you keep saying that, Cairo." I mumbled as I felt my lip bust and the blood slowly trickle out. I licked it up and wiped off what I could. Got damn did that hurt.

"Oooooh shit!" Someone shouted in the background and that was all it took for everyone to be surrounded around us and chanting for us to keep fighting. Cairo shook his head, looking up at me angrily before he threw a punch at my stomach, knocking the wind out of me. I wrapped my arm around his neck and brought him down to the ground roughly. We went back and forth trading punches as we rolled around on the floor for who knows how long. I just kept fighting until I felt someone pull me up and away from him. Whoever it was, was buff as hell and there was no way I was going to try to escape from him. I was halfway down the hall when I put my hands up in surrender. "I'm fine. You can let me go now."

"You sure? If you two start up again you only gonna get in more trouble." I turned around the face the teacher, it was Coach Blue, the basketball coach. I nodded my head. "I'm fine."

"...Alright, but I still need to walk you down to the dean."

I just shrugged my shoulders as I followed him. He was talking about how us young kids were so quick to fight, and how I should be a bigger man and walk away when stuff like that happens, how he knew that my grandfather was going to be disappointed. I sighed and rolled my eyes. How us 'young kids' were always ready for a fight? Last time I checked it was the older people who would always play dirty, not us. If anything, that was a fair fight, just one on one.

I kept wiping at blood that was trickling down my lip and chin. I wanted to laugh at what Cairo had said. He really believes that he didn't touch that girl? Just because the case was thrown away, he was completely innocent. That wasn't the case at all. I needed Jazmine to know that he wasn't all Mr. Nice Guy. We were almost to the dean's office when I ran into Riley.

"Yo, what the fuck happened?" He said once he caught a look at my face.

Coach Blue chimed in, "Get to wherever you need to be Freeman."

"Nah, Coach. Forreal, what happened? I swear if someone pulled some pussy shit on you, I'll beat they damn ass."

"It doesn't concern you right now Riley. So unless you want to be benched for the rest of the season, get going." Coach Blue said firmly. Riley stood there for a moment before shaking his head and walking away. "I'll text you Huey. Let me know if I needa come home early."

"Alright." I mumbled.

We finally made it to the main office and I sat down in the chair while he went to go talk to her. I figured that they had put Cairo somewhere else, so that we wouldn't run into each other again and fight some more. Honestly, I hadn't intended for it to be a fight, but once he had put his hands on me it was sealed. I sat there in the office, while people came in and out for various reasons, for 15 minutes before I was called into the dean's office where Coach Blue was standing in front of her desk.

She smiled at me, although I could tell it wasn't a friendly smile. "Mr. Freeman. I see we've had a few issues today?" I nodded my head once and looked at her. She cleared her throat. "Mr. Blue tells me you got into a fight with Cairo Lewis? Can you explain to me why."

"We had personal issues." I deadpanned. What did it matter why we were fighting? I would be suspended for the same amount of days either way. She kept asking me questions. Who started it, how it happened, have we ever had any issues, the list goes on and on. I gave her the shortest possible answers that I could. Five minutes of back and forth and she finally decided to stop asking me questions. "You do know that fighting calls for a week of out of school suspension and two days in school suspension, correct?"

"Mhm." I nodded.

"Alright then. Your suspension starts now. I will call your parents to come pick you up. You will have OSS until next Wednesday. Thursday you will come back to school and stay in the ISS room until Friday. You are not allowed on campus while you are suspended and if you are caught on campus, you will receive further punishment. Do you understand me, Huey?"

"Yeah."

"Okay. Go wait out in one of the chairs." I stood up but before leaving I turned around. "Can you not call my granddad? He's recovering from a heart attack and heart surgery and he won't be able to get here on his own."

"Do you have any other family member that can come pick you up?"

I shook my head slowly. Of course I didn't it was just me, Granddad, and Riley. "I don't need one. Do I? I'm 18." She looked at me as if I was telling a lie and I told her she could check the files if she needed to. "I guess you're right. But I will be giving your grandfather a call to confirm all of this." All I did was sigh and walk out. I didn't care. I wasn't intending to miss anymore school, but I guess I was just going to have to deal with it.

It took another 20 minutes before I was dismissed and able to go home. They even did the most and had an SO escort me out the building and off campus. He told me to take it easy and I waved back as I started making my way home. At least it wasn't winter anymore so I didn't have to be walking in freezing weather.

By the time I got home, Granddad was sitting in his seat, the belt in his hand. He looked at me, "Boy, don't think I'm too old to beat that ass and don't think you too old to get that ass beat." He laughed and I rolled my eyes, kicking off my shoes and sitting down on the couch. "So, you fought with Cairo?"

"Yeah. He and Jazmine are friends, I was just warning him."

"Well I guess he got a few good licks in, from the looks of your lip. Make sure you ice it." He sighed heavily. "Let me tell you something Huey… I don't think Cairo did that. He's a good boy, he wouldn't do nothin' like that."

"How can you even say that Granddad? He _raped_ that girl. Just because it was four years ago and everyone forgot about it doesn't mean it never happened." Granddad got that stern look in his eye as he looked at me. "Boy, now you listen up, I'm an old ass man and I know people. Cairo ain't that type of person. He wouldn't do that to no damn body. I understand why you stopped talking to him at first but he was found innocent. Don't hold no ill will."

"He did that. It's sick that Jazmine doesn't even know about it."

"It has nothing to do with you. You so damn worried about that girl, you think I don't know you're creeping around with Kiara? I hope you're being safe cause that little girl ain't what she seems. She too damn slick. Last thing I need is for her to pull something slick on you!"

I groaned and grit my teeth. "It's not even like that!"

"I know what it's like to be young and in love. I know you don't wanna hear a damn thing I got to say but you need to let go of Kiara, Huey. She's no good for you. You're a smart, talented young man and that hoe will just bring you down to her level. Get as mad as you want, but it's the truth."

"Alright." I said, nodding my head once and standing up and heading towards me room.

"And matter of fact, don't bring her up in my house anymore unless you want a problem."

"You got it, Granddad." I sighed. Great, he knew I was having sex. Any other circumstance and I would've been pretty embarrassed.

 **Jazmine's POV**

"Wait, what happened?" I stuttered as Mariah stood in front of me, angry as hell.

"Cairo and Huey fought! Cairo saying it's because Huey started some shit! And that's all your fault Jazmine because that nigga hasn't talked to Cairo since they were freshman so what the hell?!" Mariah shouted.

"No, no. _I_ didn't do anything Mariah! Why would I do that, I don't even talk to Huey. You know that! Besides, you and Cairo are really good friends. So why would I do something to even start a fight!? I didn't even know about it until just now, when _you_ told me." I countered. I didn't want a fight or an argument. This was all just a misunderstanding. It had to be. But why would Huey even do all of that? Start a fight for absolutely no good reason.

"Are you sure? Because I swear to fucking GOD, Jazmine, I will drop you so damn quick."

"Of course I'm sure? What the hell." I sighed heavily and pinched the bridge of my nose. What and world was even going on? Mariah sucked her teeth, still upset and shook her head. "Alright girl, look, I gotta go to Cairo's place. I'll talk to you later."

"Yeah, alright…" I mumbled as she walked away. Cairo lived downtown so I assumed she was just going to take the bus down. Me on the other hand, my mom had asked me to go to the grocery store and pick up a few things so she could make dinner when she got home tonight. I sighed and started to walk in the direction towards the grocery store. The twenty minute walk was good because it let me think about what was going on and what I wanted to do. Whatever reason Huey and Cairo didn't think each other was big, and Huey was obviously worried about me. How that caused a fight, I had no idea but I'm sure it was connected.

The first thing I did when I got home was put everything away, then make my way across the street to Huey's place. I knocked on the door, since the doorbell had broken sometime last month and waited patiently. I heard the TV mute then footsteps shuffle towards the door. Robert opened the door with a frown, then smiled as he realized it was me. "Well, hello there sweetie pie, how are you? Come in. Riley isn't home yet though."

"Hi Mr. Freeman," I shook my head, "I'm not here for Riley though, just Huey. And I'm good, how are you?"

"Just fine, just fine. That boy is in his room, holed up. Talk some sense into that boy, will you?" Robert sucked his teeth and stepped back to let me in. I slipped off my shoes, said thank you and headed towards Huey's room, knocking on the slightly open door. His deep voice sounded exhausted. "Come in. I saw you walking across the street from the window. What're you doing here?"

"Heard about the fight… just checking up on you." That was partially the truth. Despite everything, I still cared for Huey. I didn't want him to get hurt or anything like that. So even though I wanted to know why he and Cairo got into a fight, it wasn't a priority right now. I walked in and cracked the door behind me before making my way to the desk in the corner of his room. I gasped when I caught a good look at him. His lip was busted, his eye was already starting to bruise. "Oh my gosh… Huey." I gasped, rushing over to him. I stood at the side of his bed, turning his face towards me as I looked at the damage. "You need ice, your eye is swelling up. And your lip…" I rubbed his lower lip with my thumb.

He pushed me away, "I'm fine, Jazmine."

"No, you want this to heal. Let me get some tylenol.. And ice. I'll be right back." Huey just sighed and nodded his head, telling me where the tylenol was. I walked to the kitchen, grabbing a few ice cubes and tossing them in a sandwich bag before wrapping a paper napkin around it. On the way back to his room I swiped the bottle of tylenol for him. I sat down on the edge of his bed and handed him everything. "Here."

"Thanks." He said quietly, downing the pills with some water and then putting the icepack on his eye. I nodded, not sure what to really say. Then I remembered that he probably had sex with Kiara right here, on his bed. I squeaked, sat up and walked back over to the desk. "Why'd you really come?"

"Because… I was worried. I get outta class and I hear all this stuff about a fight, then I hear it was you and Cairo? I was freaking out. I mean… what the heck was the point of fighting? What even happened between you two?"

Huey sighed and clenched his jaw. "He allegedly raped a girl freshman year. He was found innocent, but… I didn't believe him. That's our problem. That's why I told you to watch out around him. I was just watching out for you."

"What?" I probably looked like a gaping fish with how far my jaw dropped. "He doesn't even seem like that type of person? He's so nice… he'd never do that."

"You never know." Huey shrugged.

"But he was proven innocent." I countered back. I hadn't known Cairo for long but he definitely was not that type of person. "So he's innocent."

"You know how many guilty people are innocent and how many innocent people are guilty?" Huey snapped back angrily. I shrunk back, not expecting the anger from him. I didn't believe him, Cairo was a good guy. Just like Huey was a good guy; just in different ways. I shook my head and stood up.

"No, there's no way. Cairo's one of the nicest people I've ever met. He's not creepy, or mean, or anything like that. No way. I'm leaving now, feel better." I said, waving my goodbye. I said goodbye to Mr. Freeman, put my shoes back on and went back home. I would have to talk to Cairo about it, and maybe even Mariah, just to hear their sides of the story.


	22. Chapter 22

**. Here's an update lol. A lot quicker than I expected it. Enjoyyyy. :)**

I took me three days to finally go see Cairo. He was avoiding my phone calls, text messages, everything. It didn't help that Mariah ignored me as if I was the plague. I know they thought everything was my fault, I knew it. I wanted to make it up to them, to let them know that everything that happened had nothing to do with me. They were such good friends, I didn't want them to lose them over something as crazy as a fight I had _nothing_ to do with in any way, shape or form. I sighed as I dug my hands into my curly hair. I was a mess, I had been rocking a frizzy puffball since the fight on Wednesday and now it was Sunday morning and I still hadn't bothered to do my hair.

I didn't have Cindy to talk to, no Mariah, Cairo was avoiding me to. Of course Huey and Hiro were out the picture. Michael and Ming were cool, but I didn't think we were close enough to start going to each other for problems. The only person I was close to was now was… Riley. He wasn't ignoring me just because me and Cindy weren't talking either. Then again… he wasn't nearly as tactful as any of my other friends. He was like Cindy times ten. I let out another sigh and pulled out my phone from my back pocket.

 **Riley, come over?**

 _ **Fa what**_

 **I need your advice**

 _ **Wit what**_

 _ **Cuz if its wit my bro I aint comin ova**_

 **No it's not about Huey, just come over. Sheesh.**

 _ **Aight aight, gimme 10 mins**_

 **Okay :)**

I smiled and rolled my eyes. I guess if Riley was coming over, I should probably get out of my pajamas and brush my teeth. Ten minutes later I was done, and another ten minutes later, Riley finally knocked at my door. I got up from the table and open the door. "Hey Riley."

"Wassup Jaz. What you need to talk about?" He stepped in, about to walk into the living room before taking off his shoes. I scolded him and he sucked his teeth before shuffling over to the couch. "Where's ya parents?"

'Grocery shopping." I sat down next to him, shrugging. "Anyways, can you just listen to me vent? I don't really have anyone to talk to right now…"

"Yeah, yeah. Shoot yellow." He smiled, propping his foot up on the table in front of him. I almost scolded him again but shook my head. He was a handful, I swear.

"So you know about the fight with Huey and Cairo. And you know the situation between me and Huey. Me and Huey had talked and he had told me to be careful around Cairo. But between then and now and got in a fight and I just don't know why they would fight." I rambled on. None of that probably made sense, but whatever.

Riley nodded. "He didn't just fight cause of you, you know? He and Cairo got history… so it was gonna happen sooner or later."

I lowered my voice. "And they have a problem with each other because… Cairo supposedly raped a girl?"

"Supposedly. Yeah." Riley nodded. "It's… more than that though."

"Can you tell me? I'm just… I'm just trying to understand."

"Our mom… we lived in a real bad neighborhood when we were young… she got raped one night, coming home from work. Killed herself few months later. Made it real hard for my dad… he was just a mess. Hell bent on revenge. Figured out who did it since the cops didn't care. He's in jail for murder now… Huey remember it more than I do, I think I was like 5 or somethin'. Iunno." He shrugged nonchalantly, as if he didn't care. He had to, because at 5 you had memories. I had no idea it was that deep. Now I could understand why Huey felt some type of way about a rape accusation. Then I wrapped my arms around Riley and hugged him as tightly as I could.

"I'm so sorry Riley."

"For what? I said I don't remember it…" I said, not shrugging me off but not hugging me back either.

"You didn't have to tell me all that. You could've said it was personal. I thought maybe… it was a mutual friend or something like that. Not… anything that serious."

"Yeah, well you know now. Anyways, that's why him and Huey got beef. But… I wanna talk to you honestly. Aight? I don't like that bitch Kiara," I almost cut him off for calling her a bitch. I wasn't too fond of that, but I let it go. "Huey, his gay ass really like you Jaz. He just… she got him fucked up. I dunno, I know how he feel bout you. He don't fucking like Kiara dumb ass. She just evil as shit. She a hoe and hoes got mind powers."

"Yeah, well… He sure seem like he likes her." I mumbled, not wanting to talk about this at all.

"Shit, y'all females are always like this. Y'all know a nigga can fuck, just to fuck. Right? We not like y'all, always getting attached and shit."

"Okay but, he actually loves her. That's the difference, Riley." I snapped.

"So, prove it to him that you're better?"

"I shouldn't have to prove myself to anybody. Ever. I know my worth and if Huey can see it then that's his problem and his alone. I told him I wasn't going to do him wrong, yet he's gonna go back to somebody that did him so dirty. He need to get it through his thick skull how much I like him." I said angrily, not meaning to get so emotional. I wiped a tear and looked away from Riley.

"Aw damn, c'mon… Don't get all teary on me Jaz…" He groaned loudly.

"I'm fine. I'm fine." I sniffled. "What should I do, about Cairo and Mariah? They're ignoring me."

"You can wait for them to hit you up or you could be ballsy and show up at his crib." He shrugged his shoulders. "He should know that shit ain't have nothing to do with you. Not like you was standing in the damn corner looking at em. Dang."

I laughed. Riley was right. Maybe I was just overthinking things… I needed to give them their space to think and sort out how they were feeling too. I just hope they didn't decide to go do something crazy like stop being friends with me.

"Alright well… I gotta go. Cin and me had plans to go play some basketball at the court. She gonna be mad as hell if I'm late again…" Riley sighed. Cindy was a pretty demanding person. I shivered when I thought about the way that she threatened and rewarded him to get what she wanted. I nodded my head. "Alright, that's fine. Tell her I said hey? I know she's still pissed off at me."

"She'll get over it sooner or later. She tellin me about everything… Y'all gotta make up." He said as he went to go put his shoes on. I laughed and rolled my eyes, I was going to make up with her sooner or later, believe it or not. "I'll try. Thanks again, Riley."

"Of course lil yellow. You like a little sis to me. But one thing, go talk to Huey? Grandad is out for a checkup so he's home alone. Just… talk shit out."

I nodded my head, not saying anything about going over to his house, but obviously saying goodbye. I closed the door behind me and sat back down on the couch. Then I paced for a good five minutes. Did I really want to go over to Huey's place? Yes… Wait, no. Of course not! I slapped my forehead. My parents were going to be home soon anyways. Ugh, who am I kidding. No they weren't they left thirty minutes ago. Grocery shopping takes them forever. I spent another ten minutes walking around in circles before getting up and just heading across the street. I knocked on the door and bounced my foot. I heard footsteps and I let out a deep breath.

"Jazmine? What're… you doing here?" Huey said, his eyebrows arched like they always were when he asked a question. I glanced at him, taking in that he was shirtless and that despite the bruises on his body he still looked really good. I shook my head and looked back up to his face.

"I wanted to talk…" I sighed.

"I uh, I don't think now is the right time…" He mumbled.

I was about to ask why when I saw the exact reason standing right behind him. This girl had to be the infamous Kiara I had heard so much about. "Oh…" I trailed off, not sure what I was going to say in the first place.

"So, are you Jazmine?" She came up behind Huey, smiling at me as if nothing was wrong.

Huey turned around and snapped at her. "Go away, Kiara."

"Don't talk to me like that Huey." She snapped back. I looked everywhere but at them. At least she was dressed, Jesus Christ. "What are you doing here, _Jazmine?_ Can't you see we're busy? Go now, run along sweetie."

"Excuse?" I said, my head snapping up? "Last time I checked, I wasn't a child or a dog. Who the _fuck_ do you think you're talking to?"

"You, obviously." Kiara sneered. Huey shoved her back and stood in between us. "Cut it out?"

Kiara snorted. "Yeah, protect your lil girlfriend Huey. You always were the type to act funny. As if you weren't just balls deep in my pussy." She laughed loudly and all I could do is gasp. "Kiara, cut it the hell out! We weren't even..."

"Aw, are you gonna cry?" Kiara cut him off and tilted her head to the side to look at me. I would cry too if I knew what I was missing out on. She came back up behind him, snaked her arm around him and tried to grab his dick but Huey pushed her back away. He looked at me, "Jazmine. I swear we didn't do anything. I didn't even know she was coming…" He stammered, trying to pull an excuse together. I shook my head, still sad, still ready to cry and then I just went numb. All the emotions I had left my body, my eyes went blank.

"You know what, I don't care." I said, looking them both dead in the eye.

"Jazmine, listen. I didn't do anything. _She_ came over." Huey pleaded. I shrugged my shoulders again. I started to turn around when Huey grabbed my wrist and held me in place.

"Get off of me Huey." I deadpanned. He shook his head and turned to look at Kiara. "Kiara, get your shit and leave."

"What the fuck? Seriously, Huey?" Her jaw dropped. "You know why I came over, you gonna give that up for her?"

"What did I just say Kiara. Get. Out." He said tersely. She sucked her teeth and cursed under her breath. She walked away and presumably went to go get her stuff, which was in the living room because I didn't see her go towards the rooms. I felt slightly better, but not really. Huey held my wrist until he shoved past the both of us, flicking both of us off. "Call me when you're done being fake, Huey!" She hollered as she climbed into her car and sped off.

"Let me go Huey." I said softly.

"No, come on. She just came over, Jazmine. I swear."

"So why were you shirtless?" I snapped back angrily.

"I just got out the shower when she knocked on the door. Do I put on some sweats and just opened the door."

"Alright, that's cool. I'm gonna go now." I shrugged.

"You wanted to talk right?" He asked softly. I shrugged again, then nodded my head. He let go of my arm and sighed. "Let's talk. Riley is wherever and my Granddad is out."

"I think I should just go back home." I sighed.

"No, I wanna hear what you have to say. Come on." He smirked at me, grabbed my wrist again and pulled me into the house with him.


	23. Chapter 23

**It's been so long since I've updated so sorry! Busy with senior stuff. But enjoy this chapter, it kind of sets the pace for pretty much the rest of the story. Hiro will be back soon, no worries. Remember to review so I know what you guys feel about the chapters!**

 _ **edit: thank you so much, KateyBee42, for pointing out some inconsistencies!**_

Jazmine sat on the couch, pouting like a big baby with her arms crossed. I sighed and sat down in the recliner. "So, what do you have to say?" he asked softly.

"I don't know, that's why I wanted to leave a minute ago. If only you'd let me." she snapped. "Also, can you put a shirt on?!" I rolled my eyes and headed to my room. Two minutes later I came back with a white tee on. "Is that better?"

"I guess." she sighed.

"What'd you have to tell me?" I asked again. She wasn't going to just get away with not telling me. Her cheeks got red and she looked in my direction, but not at me. "I still really like you."

"You sure don't act like you do?" I scoffed. She had been giving me the cold shoulder like crazy, ignoring me as if I was some type of ghost she didn't want to acknowledge. "I still like you too."

"Obviously not if you're… you're… _fucking_ Kiara!" she snapped.

"I can still have sex and like you at the same time? Sex doesn't have to have meaning."

"Obviously is does! She's your ex and I know for a fact you still love her!"

"If you hadn't given me the cold shoulder and ignored me, I wouldn't have had to go back to her." I retorted angrily. I knew it was a low blow and I knew that it wasn't Jazmine's fault for something _I_ chose to do willingly. Her face scrunched up. "Are you an idiot? I didn't make you stick your _thing_ in her! Sorry for trying not to be another notch on your belt!"

"But you weren't! And obviously had you used your brain and asked me personally we wouldn't be in this situation. Would we? But nooooo, you just had to ignore me, my calls, my texts. Everything!"

"For obvious reasons." Jazmine stood up and started to walk away. I jumped up from my seat and jumped in front of her. "Wait, Jazmine. I just wanted to talk!"

"Yet here we are, arguing." she snapped.

"I'm sorry." I sighed as I wrapped my arms around her waist. She shrugged away from me. "Get off Huey."

"Will you stay?" I asked.

"No, I don't have to." she said back a lot softer this time. I shrugged, "you're right Jaz. You don't. I'm sorry."

She nodded her head and took a step closer to me, kissing me on my chin. I'm sure had she been a tad bit taller she would have reached my lips but she was already on her tiptoes. "You know, I don't mind giving you another chance. I just… she can't be in the picture, Huey. At all." I nodded numbly, wrapping my arms back around her waist and kissing her full lips gently.

My feelings weren't completely gone for Kiara, not yet. But I knew that they wouldn't stay long. Jazmine was all I could think about half the time. Jazmine wrapped her arms around my sides and hugged my tightly. "You're so difficult, you know that?" she sighed.

I shrugged. "Yeah but I wasn't always difficult. Kiara messed me up good."

She snorted. "Yeah, I can see…." she trailed off. "Oh, just to make this clear? We aren't dating. I'm just giving you another chance for us to… start over. Mkay?"

"You got it." I nodded my head. Smiling and kissing her face when she tried to pull away from me.

"I'm so serious, Freeman. No. More. Kiara." she said sternly, stepping back away from me. I raised my hands up in defense and nodded. "Yeah, yeah, I got it."

The next two weeks between us went great. We talked more, texted more. We spent lunch together and walked home with each other everyday. Jazmine still hadn't moved back to sit with me in history class, but I hardly cared anymore. What we had was really honest and simple. I learned a lot about her, her favorite color was yellow. She loved chocolate unless it was ice cream. She was also lactose intolerant. She had really bad allergies in the spring time and took allergy medicine once a day. When she wasn't a vegetarian her favorite foods were sushi and Wendy's spicy chicken sandwich. She could also be really oblivious yet so aware at the same time. She was more than confusing and all she did was pout. She was pretty, with or without makeup, whether she was dressed up or down. She was just as simple as she was complicated and the more time I spent with her, the more I was sure that, yes, I did want to be with her. Even if she made me wait forever with no touching and kissing, I'd wait. But now that I had come to that conclusion, I really needed to set my foot down with Kiara. Not that I had seen her since the incident but she blew up my phone everyday with pictures, texts, and calls. I needed to let her know I really wasn't interested.

Despite all the memories we had together, some I'd always remember, she wasn't the same person she used to be head over heels in love with. Now that I was out of love, I could actually use my brain and be a reasonable person. I wasn't myself when I was with Kiara because I was so blinded by love and so wrapped up with her. I promised myself that I wouldn't get caught up when I did go talk to her and that I wouldn't go back on my word, even if she was standing in front of me butt ass naked.

It took me a whole week to work up the nerve to get here, but here I was, sitting in Kiara's living room. She looked at me, an expectant look on her face. "I'm glad you finally came to your senses and stopped ignor-" I cut her off quickly, "We have to stop talking Kiara. I'm not interested anymore." I looked at her, the look on her face quickly turning into one of anger. Before I knew i, she was crying. Big, fat crocodile tears that rolled down her cheeks. I sighed and rolled my eyes. "Why are you doing this, Huey? The other day you had no problem with us!" I decided not to correct her and shrugged my shoulders. "It's time for me to move on."

"It's that lightskin bitch. I know it is. What the hell is wrong with you?!" she screamed, her sadness morphing back into anger. I shook my head slowly. "Doesn't matter who it is. You're no good for me. I'm also helping you do the same exact thing you did to me to another man and I shouldn't have even done it in the first place. So stop texting, calling, and coming over. Stop all that shit."

"Why would I do that? We love each other, Huey. Don't we?" the desperate look on her face made me feel bad for her, slightly. It looked as if her facade was slowly cracking. "Huey, we've been together for so long. Don't just give up on us. Please?"

"Kiara, please stop and get yourself together. We've been over. I'm moving on and that's all there is to it. Okay?" She stood up screaming her head off. "It's that yellow bitch! I swear, I'll make it so that you don't ever want her again."

I stood up and tilted my head, looking intently at Kiara. "Are you threatening Jazmine? That's a real dumb idea considering you know how I can get. Don't mess with her." I grit my teeth. What the hell was wrong with her? Was she insane? Did something just snap in her brain? She was never like this, her emotion never fluctuated like this. For the first time since our break up, I asked her, "Are you okay, Kiara?" She slammed her foot down, her face completely void of any emotion. "Okay, you can have Jazmine. I don't care anymore. At all. Now get out my house." She pointed towards the door. I was confused at her sudden change in emotion again, but got up and walked out anyways. I muttered to myself as I got into Dorothy and sped off. I was going to be around Jazmine all the time, just for now. Anything was possible because I didn't know what Kiara would plan. She was never a bad girl, but she wasn't completely innocent either. I had a feeling that at this point, she'd do anything out of spite.

As soon as I parked the car in the driveway I headed straight for Jazmine's house. Her dad had answered the door, a weird look on his face once he saw that it was me. He looked me up and down, "Can I help you?"

"Yes, is Jazmine home?"

"She is. Why?" He asked slowly

I'd like to talk to her Mr. DuBois." I held back a sigh. He'd be great if he would just call her and walk away. He nodded his head and closed the door in my face. Two minutes later Jazmine opened up the door and rolled her eyes. "Hey Huey. Sorry about my dad."

I shrugged my shoulders, "It's fine. He doesn't really like me, huh?" she laughed and shook her head, which made me smile. "Wanna hang out?"

"Uhm yeah, sure. But I'm doing homework. Wanna come in or go to your place?" I shrugged again and told her it was solely up to her. We ended up in her room where he dad walked back and forth every few minutes to "check on us". Then she closed the door and locked it out of annoyance and he was still pacing back and forth. "He's going to wear a path in the floor."

"He's so paranoid. And he doesn't really like you, to be fair. Says he doesn't trust you." She shooed him away and sat back down at her desk facing me. I sat down on her bed quietly. "Do you want a book because this is going to take forever for me to do?"

I chuckled, "Want some help? I'm pretty sure I know it."

"Thanks but no thanks, brainiac." She smirked at me. I rolled my eyes and walked over to her anyways, standing besides her. I saw her blush as I leaned against the desk. I looked down at her, taking in how she looked. Her hair was out and wild, she didn't have on any makeup. She looked so good, so I swooped down to her level, making her look at me, and kissed her lips deeply. At first she put her hands on my shoulders to push me away, but ended up giving up and kissed me back. When I finally broke the kiss she smacked my arm. "Huey! My parents are home, and my dad is walking back and forth like a madman!"

I smirked, "So?"

She rolled her eyes, "So my ass! I'd rather not be able to not see you anymore, so lay off until another time."

"So you're saying there will be another time?"

"Dammit." Was all she said as she turned back to her work.


End file.
